The revolutionary Chilean filmmaker and writer Alejandro Jodorowsky has influenced a wide variety of artists: Yoko Ono, John Lennon, David Lynch, Marina Abramović, and, most recently, Kanye West.
Yeezus, West’s incredible sixth studio album, pushed the boundaries of hip-hop just as Jodorowsky has pushed the boundaries of cinema (his film The Holy Mountain was deemed the scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival). Kanye has cited Jodorowsky as one of his primary influences in conceiving Yeezus, noting that Jodorowsky is one of those “amazing creative inventors who weren’t recognized in their time.” As Complex notes, “The anger fostered during Jodorowsky’s childhood and manifested in The Holy Mountain finds an echo in the opening lines of West’s “New Slaves”: My mama was raised in the era when/Clean water was only served to the fairer skin.”
Being huge fans of both Jodorowsky and Kanye West, we flipped when we heard that Jodorowsky and West recently hung out in person! Of the momentous meeting with Kanye, Jodorowsky tweeted in Spanish: “Me sorprendiò la pureza de West y su profundo deseo de crear una obra que desarrolle la conciencia de los jóvenes.” Or, “I was surprised at the purity of West and his deep desire to create a work that develops the consciousness of young people.”
We suspected there was a deep connection between the two artists, and we’ve got a feeling that Kanye will dig Jodorowsky’s epic psychomagical memoir-cum-novel Where the Bird Sings Best, which we’re publishing for the first time in English this September.
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The book is essential Jodorowsky: A sprawling, big-hearted, and strange family saga in which mythical and real ancestors cross paths. Along the way, the reader encounters relatives covered in bees, women communing with wolves, militant anarchists, Jewish philosophy, knife throwers, and the Tarot. Jodorowsky fans will be reminded of the great director's films El Topo, Santa Sangre, and The Dance of Reality, and new readers will get hooked on a mind-expanding reading experience.
At their meeting, in addition to discussing art, life, and working at the edges of established genres, Jodorowsky, a noted expert on Tarot reading, read Kanye’s Tarot fortune. Rumors are now flying that Jodorowsky may collaborate on West’s 3D experiential project. Whether or not these rumors are true, this is undoubtedly the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Be sure to check out Jodorowsky’s Where the Bird Sings Best, and decide for yourself how much the great director’s work has influenced that of the rising rap superstar.