With Purported Album Banning, Is Kanye West Staging A Publicity Stunt?

Earlier this week BV Newswire reported on Kanye West's new controversial album cover, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.' Since the 'Power' rapper posted the artwork via Twitter and denounced retailers for its ban in the US, many have speculated whether or not the rapper is creating a buzz in anticipation of its Nov. 22 release.

In spite of West's claims, a Wal-mart spokesperson has released a statement combating the Grammy Award-winner's allegations.

"We're excited about Kanye West's new album and we look forward to carrying it in our stores on November 22nd," the spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly magazine. "As always, it's our standard practice to carry the edited parental advisory version. We did not reject the cover artwork and it was never presented to us to view."

The style icon tweeted on Sunday evening that he "really don't be thinking about Wal-mart when I make my music or album covers," adding "I wanna sell albums but not at the expense of my true creativity."

While some think that this may be the notorious speech intruder's latest rant could be a dubious publicity stunt, one industry insider believes that West's proven track record is enough to uphold the rapper's decision to release music that he's passionate about.

"Since Wal-mart has refuted the claim that they were banning Kanye's album cover, it leads me to believe that he might have had a miscommunication with his record label or management team," noted music journalist Shaheem Reid. "I don't think Kanye would blatantly lie to create hype about the LP. He doesn't need to."

"Ye is coming off two high profile, highly praised performances at the VMAs and Saturday Night Live," Reid continued. "He's also released a slew of lauded songs in advance of the project. The anticipation for the album is extremely palpable and kinetic strictly based on his talent and esteemed track record."

What do you think?

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