If there ever was a black metal musician associated with controversy, even more so than the "godfather of black metal" Euronymous himself (almost), it would be Burzum's frontman and lone band member Varg Vikernes.
Vikernes has always kept Burzum a solo project from the start, despite having received interest from various other black metal musicians such as Darkthrone's Fenriz and Emperor's Samoth, to name a few.
But recently, will the rise in popularity of black metal and all that (thanks, in part, to the Lords of Chaos book/movie saga and the Heavy Metal Master Class best seller), there have been an increasing number of very public altercations between members of the once insular black metal scene, and the general mainstream "showbiz" business.
Varg Vikernes on Burzum, 50 Cent, Ye and Lords of Chaos
The first of such incidents happened last year, when rapper Ye - formerly known as Kanye West - was photographed wearing a Burzum t-shirt in broad daylight. It should be noted that Ye has always been a fan of Varg Vikernes and his work in Burzum, having sampled Burzum tracks for his Donda (I and II) album previously.
The song "P-ssy Print", for instance, featuring Kanye West and Gucci Mane, sampled Burzum's "Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Säule der Singularität"... which you will all recognise as the first instrumental track on the legendary album "Filosofem".
Varg Vikernes: "I think [Kanye West] shows courage to wear a Burzum shirt..."
Varg, the man once named Count Grishnakh aka Kristian Vikernes (and now Louis Cachet), answered the "controversy" by praising Ye's attitude:
Varg Vikernes: Frankly, I think it shows courage to publicly wear a Burzum shirt... You risk the wrath (including boycott) of an entire music industry, completely under the control of... 'a certain group.' So kudos to him for that.
Vikernes also dismissed accusations of cultural appropriation or artistic theft, stating that black metal artists themselves were influenced by various acts, including some death metal, some heavy metal, some classical music, etc.
Varg Vikernes: It's perfectly normal, natural & fine to be inspired by & to pick up ideas from other artists.
Varg also mentioned another famous rapper, 50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson.
He reacted to rumours of a possible reboot of the Lords of Chaos film franchise, turning it into an action movie featuring 50 Cent as Varg Vikernes, as well as Sylvester Stallone, Megan Fox and Jason Statham as various members of the Norwegian Inner Circle of Black Metal.
Varg Vikernes: [It] can't be much worse than the original.
He claims among other accusations that the "Midget Killer" character, was "directly inspired by [himself] slaying Euronymous" in 1993. That project has since then been abandoned.
For those who don't know, the producers of the "original" Lords of Chaos movie approached Burzum, Darkthrone and Mayhem - the three bands involved - and asked for rights to use their music in the movie. All three refused, and they had to settle with Metallica instead. At any rate, Varg Vikernes has a sharp tongue as always. He was one of the first to publicly denounce the movie at its release.
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