Kanye West’s next move after his triumphant and expletive-laden VMA comeback performance? A 40-minute music video, naturally. West — whose previous video, ‘Power,‘ was uncharacteristically short — describes his newest creation to NY Mag as “the story of a phoenix fallen to Earth” who becomes his girlfriend before she is discriminated against and burns herself alive to escape the criticism. Sound familiar?

West continues on the symbolic nature of phoenixes: “I’ve been feeling the idea of the phoenix. It’s been in my heart for a while. It’s maybe parallel to my career. I threw a Molotov cocktail on my career last year, in a way, and I had to come back as a better person.” If it indeed clocks in at a full 40 minutes, West’s ‘Runaway’ will narrowly best the current title-holder for longest music video, Michael Jackson’s ‘Ghosts’ (39 minutes, 31 seconds).

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