Zach Galifianakis Lends Kanye West a Little Redneck Cred

When I first read about the making of this video for Kanye West's new single "Can't Tell Me Nothing," it sounded like a joint effort between West and Zach Galifianakis. The story was that the two had met and hit it off at a comedy club where Galifianakis was performing. Although, if you watch the video, it seems as though Kanye amazingly managed to keep himself behind-the-scenes, as this clip has become another example of Galifianakis' odd brand of off-beat humor. I've seen the guy do stand-up and he was so drunk he pissed his pants right before before taking the stage. Nonetheless, he was pretty hilarious, interacting with/berating the crowd, playing the piano while rattling off one-liners, and just being downright zany. If you're a fan of this spin on the Kanye video, you should check out his other vids where he makes similar work on Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy" and Fiona Apple's "Not About Love." In my opinion, this video rendition of "Can't Tell Me Nothing" is far more interesting than the original version featuring West, which is surprisingly boring, and not nearly as imaginitive as Kanye's other new video for "Stronger," where he takes on a Godzilla-like persona (possibly a manifestation of his own self-image?). Either way, I'm always a big fan of hip-hop stars who aren't afraid to branch out and be original. There's no arguing that this video, with Galifianakis at the helm, is certainly an example of that mentality.

By the way, doesn't Zach Galifianakis look a lot like Sam Beam of Iron & Wine? And come to think of it, you never see those two guys in the same room at the same time. Just something to think about...