Apparently, Kanye West Was Almost Larry David
Watch a clip from his shelved HBO pilot. It's preeeeeetty bad.
For some strange reason, the hip-hop community has long found inspiration in the projects of Seinfeld alumni. Rapper Wale recently called Jerry Seinfeld into the studio to cameo on his upcoming follow-up to his critical hit, The Mixtape About Nothing. Back in ’08, Kanye West and US cable network HBO joined forces for a potential TV show starring the rapper: the long-shelved and long-forgotten, Untitled Kanye West HBO Project, executive produced by Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage), Rick Rubin and West himself.
In a 2008 interview, Charles called the project “roughly Kanye’s version of Curb Your Enthusiasm“, and revealed that Kanye once referred to himself as “the black Larry David”. Combined, those two quotes probably make up the greatest TV pitch of all time. Unfortunately, there’s a reason why the pilot’s been stashed away under piles of art theory texts in Kanye’s HBO office locker since then… To borrow a phrase from David himself, it’s preeeeetty, preeeeetty, preeeeetty, preeeeetty bad.
According to Vulture, the clip — our first glimpse of the mythical show — recently popped up in the online reel of actress Alison Quinn. The comedic possibilities of an arrogant Kanye riffing alongside a sick ‘Make-A-Wish’ kid are high (and definitely ‘David-esque’), and, according to IMDB, the show was set to feature a talented supporting cast including Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show) and P.J. Byrne (that chubby-faced guy you’ve seen on pretty much everything). But judging from that clip, it was definitely missing something… A bouncy theme song, perhaps? Some Jeff and Susie type bickering? Kanye in a navy blazer, chinos and tennis shoes? That would’ve been hilarious.
Speaking of Kanye’s clothing, the rapper made further inroads overnight in establishing his fashion empire ambitions — he just released something through A.P.C. called a ‘hip-hop t-shirt’. It’s plain white and costs $120. You may wanna buy it if you’re rich and intent on finding new ways to offend poor people.