American rappers and songwriters Kanye West and Kid Cudi shot a music video in Qatar last night, witnesses, including a student who was an extra in the production, are saying.
“The whole thing was pretty top-secret,” the student, who asked to remain anonymous because he signed a non-disclosure agreement, said.
Production on the film started around 8pm and ran until 6am, the student said. During his four hours on the set, he said he donned a black suit and mingled with West, Cudi and several extras from a local modeling agency.
“It was interesting to see exactly how music videos were produced and how many takes they have to take,” he said, adding that the models’ attire was “culturally sensitive.”
Rumors of West’s appearance began spreading yesterday afternoon, as dozens of people dressed in black set up for a video shoot at the ceremonial court in Education City.
One Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar staff member snapped a few shots when he appeared on the set.
When asked what was going on, those setting up told Doha News that they could not comment on who they were working for or what they were doing.
But some said they were told otherwise:
When I asked what’s going on in QF’s ceremonial court…they told me Kanye West is going to shoot his video here at midnight? :S #rumors?
— Yaяa Darwish ∞ (@Yarzy) April 17, 2012
@dohanews the ceremonial court is full of camels and horses, they’re filming and not letting anyone get close #loudmusic #EC #kanyedoha
— Farhat (@mafi_name) April 17, 2012
I woke up to find out that kanye west and kid cudi were recording a video right outside my dorm. Da fudge did i just sleep through?!
— Bassil Kherallah (@bkherallah) April 18, 2012
Another student, Jo of lonelymiracle, posted this photo from the shoot last night:
She said:
Just Kanye West and Kid Cudi filming some music video behind our dorm XD Taken from our balcony.
They have security all over the place, no one is allowed to even walk nearby, but they forgot the dorm balconies have such a nice view of the Ceremonial Court >w>
Earlier this year, West had reportedly sent scouts to the Gulf to look into locations for a short film, Rolling Stone reported.
On the short list were Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Credit: Top photo by Damian Dourado; Second photo by Omer Mohammad
