"If you were to go back and rewatch any of Kanye West's controversial moments from the last seven years I'm not sure why you would, as West's devolution from hallowed icon to cultural pariah has been one of the sadder pop culture stories of the decade, but let's say you did you would spot, lingering in the background, a kid with a camera."
"That kid is Nico Ballesteros, who DM-ed his way into West's orbit as a teenager in 2016, volunteering to record events West held at his Calabasas compound. By day, Ballesteros was a student at Orange County School of the Arts; by night, he was quickly becoming a staple of West's entourage. I would be in class texting with them and they'd be like: Oh, I'm with Ye right now."
"By senior year, Ballesteros had assimilated into West's scene. Which is how he got the assignment, shortly after West's hospitalization for mental distress in 2018, to film constantly for what West pitched as all-access, no-holds barred account of his bipolar disorder post-breakdown (or as the openly unmedicated West proclaimed it, his breakthrough.) Over the next six years, Ballesteros filmed over 3,000 hours of footage of West as the superstar experienced creative breakthroughs and, more often, outbursts, meltdowns, paranoia and international opprobrium."
Nico Ballesteros DM-ed his way into Kanye West's orbit as a teenager in 2016 and became a constant presence at West's public appearances. He filmed West at events including the Oval Office meeting, the Paris fashion show, and Sunday Service sessions. After West's 2018 hospitalization, Ballesteros was tasked to record an all-access account of West's bipolar disorder and post-breakdown life. Over six years he captured more than 3,000 hours showing creative breakthroughs alongside outbursts, meltdowns, paranoia, and international opprobrium. The footage formed the basis of the limited-release film In Whose Name.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]