An explanation for his bizarre behaviour, or time to break out the tinfoil hats?
One Twitter user believes that they have uncovered a theory that explains Kanye West's recent outlandish and controversial behaviour and statements, and you're going to have to bear with us on this one because it's long and somewhat bizarre.
The person in question, who goes by the Twitter handle Snowcone, claims that the rapper is collaborating with his friend Tremaine Emory on a 'performance art piece' that takes in everything from references to comedian Andy Kaufman to American artist David Hammons, and that he has already made subtle references to numerous artists and theories in his tweets and comments over the last month.
To us, it sounds a little too bizarre to be true - and would West really risk the whole thing backfiring and permanently damaging his career?
Decide for yourselves below, though...
Get your tinfoil hats and red string, I’ve got a conspiracy theory: @kanyewest is in the middle of a performance art piece and the clues are right in front of us. A thread:
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
1. First we need to establish who @DenimTears is. Forgive me if this is well known info, I’m not great at keeping up with every celebrity. His name is Tremaine Emory. He’s a collaborator and friend of Kanye. pic.twitter.com/aI0S5SUUMU
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
2) last night Kanye tweeted this picture. This appears to be Tremaine at the table. We also know from a previous tweet from Tremaine that he’s in Calabasas, where Kanye lives. pic.twitter.com/w3OKmN5QTs
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
3) Kanye also mentioned in his interview with @cthagod “my boy Tremaine tweeted...” so we can assume that he’s both friends with Tremaine and looks at his Twitter account. I promise this info will be important coming up.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
4. A week or so after rejoining twitter, Kanye tweeted these images on 4/22. The first two images involve David Hammons and the third and fourth involve Joseph Beuys. pic.twitter.com/Q1NdrXq91J
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
5. So let’s start with the first two images involving David Hammons. After Kanye tweeted these images, Tremaine quote tweeted them with this emoji: ♠ï¸?. I believe this is referring to Hammons work which aimed to “turn racist cliches (spade) on its head.” pic.twitter.com/HF0Qaqjcxd
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
6. As for the other two images of Joseph Beuys- the image Kanye tweeted was from an art installation Beuys did in 1974 called I Like America and America Likes Me, where he locked himself into a room with a coyote for 3 days.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
7. The purpose of this performance with a coyote, “a wild spirit - often thought of as America’s untamed spirit” was to hopefully make the coyote “tolerant and accepting through Beuys’ desire to heal.” pic.twitter.com/Z6NYJapmwL
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
8. I believe Kanye is doing a modern take on Beuys piece with the coyote. He’s embraced what might be considered the coyote of today. Gotten close to it. Trump, Candace Owens, Alt Right. Maybe he sees this as a better chance to “tame” the coyote than more traditional methods.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
9. But would Kanye get called out for doing something that’s already been done or taking someone else’s idea(s)? Maybe not if he explained himself first... pic.twitter.com/7Dl2PXJVrM
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
10. To me, there are two clues that are most important. The first one is this tweet from Kanye. This picture, posted six days after the others, again shows Beuys, Hammons, and now introduces what appears to be a drawing of Andy Kaufman. pic.twitter.com/Yr26mtdnOe
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
11. Anyone that’s even a little familiar with Andy Kaufman knows that he was a performance artist who would put himself in uncomfortable situations in wide view of the public eye, and rarely, if ever, break character. Check out Man on The Moon or Jim and Andy on Netflix.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
12. So why is this important? 1, it shows that Beuys and Hammons are still on Kanye’s mind. 2, Kanye refers to it as his mood board. 3. Maybe most importantly, he had to purposefully add Andy Kaufman into the picture, but in a somewhat subtle way.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
13. Maybe having a picture or a book on Andy would be too obvious. A rough drawing with only his first name is obviously more subtle. So in this picture you have a performance artist who tamed a wild creature by showing it love and compassion,
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
14. an artist who took a racist symbol (♠ï¸?) and flipped it to give it new meaning, and a performance artist who wrestled women, and generally acted insane in the public eye, and rarely broke character.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
15. The other most important clue in all of this was Tremaine’s response to this Kanye tweet. Tremaine quote tweeted it with the caption “The prestige ♠ï¸?🤹ðŸ?¾â™‚ï¸?🤠🤼♂ï¸?.” pic.twitter.com/xll9MC5ekC
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
16. Maybe I’m reaching here, but I think ♠ï¸? represents the MAGA hat, a symbol of perceived racism. 🤹ðŸ?¾â™‚ï¸? could represent Kanye pulling a trick, or maybe juggling a lot of things. 🤠represents taming the coyote, and 🤼♂ï¸? represents Kaufman.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
17. Going with the theory that 🤹ðŸ?¾â™‚ï¸? represents pulling a trick, that could give some context to “The prestige.” Possibly a direct reference to the movie in which the prestige is the final act of a magic trick. pic.twitter.com/3BM1MA0L4R
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
18. Another quick note on “The Prestige”- this is something Tremaine has tweeted a few times. He tweeted it 45 minutes after the infamous picture of Kanye in the MAGA hat.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
19. In the movie (idk if it’s true or not) the prestige is the reveal to the illusion. You take an ordinary thing (Kanye’s usual stance) make it something extraordinary (supporting trump) and then the prestige turns it back into something ordinary. Is the album his prestige?
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
20. Also, Kanye is no stranger to taking a perceived racist symbol and attempting to flip it like Hammons. In 2013 he sported a confederate flag and commented on its meaning. pic.twitter.com/aW6PKvlHoW
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
21. So my theory is this: Kanye (most likely with help from Tremaine and/or others) is in the middle of a performance art piece. What is the overall goal of it? Idk. Maybe holding a mirror up to the world and forcing us to talk about some things. Maybe the album will explain.
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
22. Or I could be completely wrong and looking way too much into this. But I don’t think I am. Is it such a stretch to think one of the greatest artists of our time (imo) who has had a hand in music, shoes, real estate, fashion, etc, would try his hand in performance art?
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
23. Most of this came from this post https://t.co/K7fPdvmKnM and u/SPLY750 over at r/Kanye. I’ve included a few more tweets that I think serve as further evidence below
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
24. One more thing- this isn’t something we’ve never seen before. A lot of people thought Joaquin Phoenix had lost his mind when he quit acting and started rapping. Remember that Letterman interview? Turns out it was all performance art for I’m Still Here. pic.twitter.com/ZG7as1pw1K
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
I’ve come across another large clue to support my theory. Tremaine tweeted “let’s play twister, let’s play risk, yeah yeah yeah” which is a lyrics from REM’s Man on The Moon which is about Andy Kaufman and believing everything you see. pic.twitter.com/q39t1nBBmy
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
They’re literally giving us the answers. We just have to know how to look for them. pic.twitter.com/GcNYIgZh3E
— Snowcone (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018
