Synopsis

The animated video casts Kanye West as a cab driver moving through a stark, hand-drawn city while children ride in the back seat. As he picks up passengers, the imagery turns the song's observations about poverty, violence, inequality, and lost innocence into surreal pencil-sketch vignettes. The ride ends tragically when a discarded match ignites a fire, killing the driver. Kanye and Adam Levine also appear in simple live-action performance shots between the animated sequences.

Factoids & Trivia

• Two official videos were produced for the song. The better-known version uses extensive black-and-white pencil animation, while the other is a live-action Christmas-themed piece set inside Macy's Herald Square in New York City.

• Kanye West commissioned the animated version after reportedly feeling dissatisfied with the original live-action video. Bill Plympton completed the new animation in approximately one week.

• West said he wanted the animated approach because it felt new and refreshing, and because the rough, hand-drawn style reflected the song's natural and organic quality.

• The original live-action video was filmed overnight inside the Macy's flagship store on 34th Street. Its holiday setting reflected the single's planned Christmas-season release.

• The Macy's video includes appearances by Adam Levine as a security guard and Jon Brion, who is shown playing miniature pianos in the store's toy department.

• The original video received the Best Hip-Hop Video award at the 2006 Music Video Production Awards.

• The animated clip's pencil aesthetic has often been compared to the visual language of "Take On Me," although Plympton's sequences translate Kanye's lyrics into a darker, more socially conscious set of images.