Zane Lowe: Nice to see you again man. Thanks for stopping by the BBC for a chat
Kanye West: Good to see you too sir. Thank you
Zane Lowe: So, I was thinking today like where do we begin? Because you've been having some remarkable conversations lately, some really in depth, really interesting conversations addressing recent things that have gone on, you know, successes, things that have kind of made people think, talk amongst themselves and it got me thinking like, where were we last time. We were 18 months ago, not far from here and so much has changed in the last 18 months. The first question I wanted to ask you, cause I've always wondered how you felt at that time
Kanye West: I had so many interviews where I'm trying to express that I can create, that I can create outside of just the music box and I'm giving examples of work that I did that was really successful and I'm getting just completely shut down. But not just by the company we talked about last time but every single company, every single company you could imagine is just like “no, you are celebrity. You are not allowed to create, you're not allowed to think, you're not allowed to have an opinion. You're just here to wear a red leather jacket and shut up.” And it's true that as a celebrity you can help to promote something quickly but no one wanted to allow me to think or be involved in the product and you know, as I told you last time I said I'm a product guy
Zane Lowe: Yea, and it was an electrifying conservation, and I mean, it felt like you were taking names that day, it felt like you were also trying to reach people that day and what's occurred since you know is you have made serious moves into that world. You know, what's happened recently with Yeezy supply, you know your deal with Adidas, how has that experience been overall for you now with product out and with peoples opinion about the shoes and about what they've seen -- how has that experience been for you? How can you put that into context for us?
Kanye West: I mean, every day when you go to the gym or you go to work it's a challenge. You gotta work hard and you have to completely, tirelessly, countlessly remind people of your vision no matter what. So that's the way I'mma word it. You know what I'm saying, so we made it to a point where something extremely close, something almost to the level, something past the level of the vision finally hit the globe and Adidas was a company that was flexible enough and had been used to dealing with creatives enough to allow me to create something that was very close to my heart. You know, they original hip hop
Zane Lowe: Of course, Run DMC man I mean they were right there at the very beginning it was kind of a perfect partnership when it was announced, you know, not long after and I wondered when did the conversation actually begin with Adidias after you starting talking about your aspirations and what you wanted to achieve in that industry?
Kanye West: That conversation had already started before then. There was a few conversations with a few companies with a few sportswear companies and um, I remember calling Jon Wexler you know, it was a certain point where I just felt like I couldn't breathe anymore like I had all these ideas and I felt like I was literally gasping for oxygen because if anyone's creative, you know like we have this idea of a ma** market looking at a celebrity that owns a Lamborghini complaining about something. And anyone that's creative understands that there's no amount of money that can be given to them to make them not want to or have to create. There's no check out and there's no cheque to stop you from creative. No pun intended when I'm saying no check
Zane Lowe: Was a good one though
Kanye West: Just even thinking about it takes the breath out of me because I mean, as soon as we got the opportunity to actually start making things, there were so many ideas. I mean I look at over 500 images a day on my laptop. And I remember I went into the whole thing about Hypebeast, you know I said “people be dissing me on Hypebeast” and it's like wait a second, dude, like I been fighting this battle for a long time, since like Universe City. Like no one has any idea what the meeting were like. I'mma throw this one out here. I remember this one guy that worked for Francois Pinault the head of Kering Group came up in my apartment in Paris, while I was working on Yeezus and I had a meeting with him and it was related to doing a deal with Puma. And the guy, actually I forgot about the meeting right, so I had my jacket on and it was a jacket I had done with A.P.C. and I was about to leave, so he shows up at the door and we go to my dining room table and I'm sitting with him, and I tell him like yo I made this jacket. And he makes some joke about, you know “You did look pretty hot. I'm happy to know that you put on all those clothes for me.”
Zane Lowe: Was he joking do you think?
Kanye West: He was leveling. He was leveling the conversation, this is what people do all the time. Like if I meet someone who I respect or I look up to, I will literally like kiss their feet. You know someone that I know that's put in a lot of work. And it's a lot of agents, a lot of people who work under the main guy that will level, that will try to level you. You know when they talk to you, they talk down to you. And I'm just sitting like “Whoa, ok.” Obviously I have to show him like hey I'm working on this stuff and it's coming out good and this is all I have a chance to work on. You know like when I worked with A.P.C. I only had two times to look at the collection, you know I couldn't really grab it and dig into it the way I dig into like working on “All Of The Lights” or something like that, it's like, there's a timeline, a cut-off switch, especially when you're dealing with apparel and the way that people make apparel currently
Zane Lowe: I can imagine the frustration for you at that moment in time as you're leading up to what has effectively occurred in the last year. Seeing something like you say, close to the vision you have in your mind. At those early stages, man the frustration of trying to get those ideas out and just like you said, and getting just levelled
Kanye West: Everyone, everyone I talked to would try to level me. You know. And then there was this guy named Hermann Deininger that was the head of Adidas. And I say “was” because he pa**ed away recently. And I showed him what I shot in Qatar, the Cruel Summer film, that was using 7 screens, the surround vision idea which we've never shown online because you have to experience it in it's space. It's the same thing I showed Disney and Universal, and said you know this is the new frontier on the way we need to see film. And which I got all no's on that – to date. And this guy Hermann saw it, and he believed. He believed that maybe I had something more than how big my rap record was. In me he could tell, he knew, he's like this guy has something to say and to give that's past the current box that he's put in. And he made sure, Hermann and Jon Wexler made sure that Adidas deal got done. And the deal has nothing to do with the idea of the higher ups in society. The deal is all about the moment when I can bring a shoe to a kid a Foot Locker and get on my knees and take it back to when I worked at The Gap and put the shoes on his feet. That is what the deal is about. The deal is about when the star of a show is a 5 foot 3 girl, when there's never been a 5 foot 3 girl as the star of any fashion show. The deal is when the kids came to 42 locations across the world to see Yeezy Season 1 x Adidas Originals launch and the excitement that was in that theater, and when they saw that line up, they saw that brigade, they reacted to it when they heard “Wolves," when they saw the boots, when they saw the runners, when they saw the matrix sweaters, when they saw all these things like hitting them back to back to back to back. This is what I fought for. None of this was about me having like a bigger house, a faster Lamborghini. It, like, it wasn't about that. It was about these kids having a moment. To be themselves. To be a stronger version, you know, of themselves. I make this stuff to empower people. I feel like there's so many things that are made to, you know, to wear the people as opposed to people wearing it. And I asked my a**istant one time. I was like, "how does these clothes make you feel?" She said, "I feel powerful." And that's our, that's our main goal. As the song says, "no one man should have all that power." No one man should have it. Everyone should have it
Zane Lowe: You seem to be totally, well, a lot more aware of what it is that.. well, in a much, sort of like a more focused way you're able to know where you wanna be and what impact you wanna have. And it feels like you're very attached to the well-being of the people and what they can get out of this. You know, and across the border. And when that moment kind of occurred to you. Cause that doesn't happen overnight, you know.. there's.. but it does lead up to that. And 18 months ago you were fighting, you know, you were like really fighting to be heard. And now it seems to me like you're very consciously aware
Kanye West: Yeah, I was still off, you know what I mean? I might have some things that are off now, but I feel like, in the same way when I came up with "All Falls Down," and I was able to differentiate myself from whoever I was trying to rap like at that point and I found my voice and my message. It's like, I felt like..
Zane Lowe: That was the moment you felt like that was, yeah..
Kanye West: When I wrote "All Falls Down." That's when I was like, "okay, this is who I am in the.. this is what I'm, this is what I'm presenting." So now I feel like.. it's funny, I would always say, you know, "I wanna sculpt with marble." And it wasn't until I was working on Yeezus, and I was learning about furniture and the fact that I am a rich person that afforded me the opportunity to go to French flea markets and the galleries and buy, you know, like furniture that get charged, that rich people get charged a lot for. And one of the things they had was this Le Corbusier lamp, and it was made of cement, and it was this beautiful sculpture that was...it really inspired me because he made it for Zeus, so he made it for everyone. And it was made of cement. So it wasn't the material, it was the idea that was the most important. And I always wanted the resources of LVMH, but it wasn't until I started taking the sensibility of proportion and color and finishing and applying it to fleece and jersey French terry which is a cement in comparison to, you know, the type of materials that Louis Vuitton might use. That I find a message, a voice, a reason, a reason to create. You know, it was a futile argument for me to say, "hey, everyone, get behind me so I can make another $5000 jacket that you can afford." It's like insane. But now I feel people rallying because they know that I wanna fight for H&M, Zara type concept and I know that Adidas can eventually get those price points. And I want to apologize to everyone right now because I believe that Season 1 may still be in that upper price point and there's still the words "exclusivity," you know, being thrown around. "Exclusivity" is the new N-word. Not n***a, "exclusivity." Am I saying the word right?
Zane Lowe: Yeah
Kanye West: Yeah, that is the new N-word. Cause nothing should be exclusive. Everyone should have the opportunity to drink from the same fountain. The idea of exclusivity is a new colored-people fountain concept. And saying, "we're gonna overcharge sneaker culture guys to, you know, drink at the right fountain." You know, we have to reboot our mentality. Period. Of a generation. You know, it wouldn't even matter if I sold one sweatshirt. You know, as long as this interview gets done, and kids hear this and know this and or someone in position of power or someone that will be in a position of power in the future has a chance to make a difference. And they say someone who was at the lowest point grabbing at straws, express themselves freely, and overcame it through all adversary, all adversity, means that they can do the same thing. You know
Zane Lowe: Yeah. Because the thing is when people hear you talking at times I think that there's a genuine consensus from those cause believe me, you're compelling to a lot of people. And, you know, what you say is.. I think you have very unique views on things that should be heard. But some people I think have thought overtime that.. they've obviously missed the point. They've thought that you bringing it back to you. But you're actually trying to open up to everybody else. You're trying to break down that barrier of exclusivity and say you know.. If you have to lead the way you have to lead the way. It might not end with you, but maybe if it starts with you is your point
Kanye West: And I was, I was using the wrong words. My rap was wrong. You know what I'm saying? I was getting the drinks, you know, thrown in my face as opposed to leaving with the girl at the end of the night. You know, cause imagine, think about the type of sh**, wild sh** you say in interviews. And imagine if someone said this very thing to a girl at a bar. "Yo, what up, baby? I'm a genius!" They be like, "yo, who's this guy?" "No, I'm telling you, I sold all this, I sold this many shoes." Then she be like, "yo, chill, chill." Like, "gosh, get me out of here already." You know what I'm saying? And that's who I was and that was that frustration I had cause I'm seeing like this.. I'm looking at this girl like, "man, I know that.."
Zane Lowe: "We could be good together, this could work."
Kanye West: Yeah, I know, I just don't know how to work it
Zane Lowe: So I'm messing it up, yeah
Kanye West: And the right way so I'm gonna stumble. I was like the 40 year old virgin of dealing with like corporations and stuff you know..
Zane Lowe: You're the 40 year old virgin of dealing with corporations?
Kanye West: Yeah. I did not know how to communicate at all. And it's like I had my point, my message was, you know, simply like, "your egg, my semen, we change the world." You know, and I imagine that that's gonna sound wrong
Zane Lowe: That's a hell of a pick up line, man
Kanye West: I mean, I like saying sh** that sounds wrong anyway, you know, because wrong is okay, you know like..
Zane Lowe: It's okay, it's okay, wrong..
Kanye West: We have the right to be wrong sometimes
Zane Lowe: That's a great line. You know I wanted to talk to you.. when we started talking, you know, a while back, music was on my agenda because, you know, I mean, we talked a couple times before as well. And you know I'm a music guy, I mean, it really drives me, and it's a big part of my life. And over the course of this conversation, you know, I wanna ask you at some point what the future looks like and feels like to you cause I'm fascinated in the certain things I wanna touch on, but I do want to talk about your forthcoming, new record if that's cool. Do you want to talk about music?
Kanye West: Yeah
Zane Lowe: Cause to me it feels like over the course of that frustration last time you had to make sacrifices to be heard and it felt like you didn't really wanna talk about Yezus. You were like, "that's cool and everything, but I wanna talk about this." And lately, I just, maybe I'm, I feel like you're really energized with music in a big way
Kanye West: You know, after I did the presentation in New York I was able to get that alien out of my stomach, you know like. I was on a flight back in the morning to go shoot the "Blessings" video with Big Sean and Drake
Zane Lowe: Yeah
Kanye West: And I couldn't have been happier. To go and shoot this video with two of the hottest rappers in the game. Well, let's be respectful and truthful. The hottest rapper and one of the hottest rappers in the game. And I fall somewhere in that, you know? In that, that field. So..
Zane Lowe: Getting back to music for a minute, I feel like we're right back, I gotta bring you right back for a second. I want to know what we can look forward to on this record. You talked about cookout music, you talked about what this album represents. And every record you have made has been something new and fresh. You've taken yourself and your craft to a new place. Where's your head at right now with this new album?
Kanye West: Just working hard. On it
Zane Lowe: And it's fun?
Kanye West: And it's fun. And it's fun to work hard and we're being inventive and I've still got some, you know, a lot of opinions and perspectives that I think are important and very.. can be inspiring to people. That fight, and you know, The College Dropout came out of a fight to want to rap. And this new album is coming out of a fight of wanting to design. And..
Zane Lowe: I wondered about that, cause Yeezus was punk-rock to me. That was like, that was Sex Pistols to me. That was like Public Enemy to me. That was one of the records that stands as establishing an industrial, strong statement. And I wondered like where the desire is coming from on this record. And without giving away too much cause the proof is in the hearing, the joy is in the hearing. Where it's coming from
Kanye West: I mean, it's a joyful noise onto the Lord. Like, it is still, you know, the struggle, you know, but the beauty from the struggle. You know
Zane Lowe: As opposed to just the struggle?
Kanye West: Yea, the song Amazing Grace, you know coming out of the worst pain possible and making the most beautiful song you know, possible. You know I wanna perform “Only One” as many times as possible. You know could be vilified or misunderstood, and like I said I didn't come here to be liked I came here to make a difference. I'm not talking about this interview, I'm talking about life. Some people's job they're very extremely likeable and I think I could figure that out. I think I'm way nicer to people just in general. Everyone I meet I'm extremely nice. But as soon as people start playing games I stop. I stop playing games. And at any moment I can hit that Ye bu*ton and we can go right back to day one. People be forgetting though, they be forgetting real quick. But it's all love, and great energy and positive energy. I like the, I like the differences of views and our approach to music like when I'm sitting making music with Paul McCartney and I come in I have all these lists of complaints like “da-da-da-da-da!” and this happened and that happened and he say “Yo man, it's all cool though! How bout we make a song?” And we just make song, after song after song after song after song after song
Zane Lowe: He is the most, cause I've met him many times now and he is just so tapped into the joy of making music. And he so gets it in the sense that it's like kinda let it lead you. Let the song sorta lead you to where it needs to go is the vibe I get from him like yea, let's just see where this goes
Kanye West: And yea that's what we did. You know people think that our first two singles don't have drums but both of those are percussive instruments
Zane Lowe: Yea totally that's what he's doing. That's like “dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun” that's what it is. S I just wanna talk about working with him because I haven't actually seen too many people focus on that which surprises me, maybe I'm wrong, but I just, I love the idea of that collaboration occurring and it's a natural one. Certainly on “FourFiveSeconds” I think that's one of Rihanna's greatest vocal performances period
Kanye West: She was k**ing that right?
Zane Lowe: My gosh man. I mean that's like a whole other attitude that I haven't heard from her as a star. She's really gone inside that record and wrangled it. How was it making that and getting that song out cause it feels effortless to listen to, it almost has like a 70's FM American rock, sort of country-rock radio vibe to it, you know what I mean, like something you would've heard in Los Angeles in '76 or something
Kanye West: I mean I liked, I liked songs like that when I was growing up. And I mean the type of chord changes that Paul does, I don't need to understand them, and to be able to be involved with that..
Zane Lowe: It's because he invented them
Kanye West: Yea exactly. And be able to be involved with writing a song like that, it's just like way next to, like meeting Paul McCartney is like meeting Ralph Lauren
Zane Lowe: Yea, totally!
Kanye West: It's like “whoa!”
Zane Lowe: Dude he's the greatest
Kanye West: The greatest of their field, period. Of all time
Zane Lowe: And you got to say “wildin'” in a song with him it's just incredible cause it's still hip hop, that's what's amazing about it
Kanye West: Yea the whole cadence was trap. Soon as Paul starts playing, I start singing in trap
Zane Lowe: That's again is the fusion of cultures which I love. It's what did you call it before when you when you were talking about Sean wearing [Raf?] and your shoes – you were saying, it's -- I can't remember what you said
Kanye West: Fusion is the future. Period. The mixing of ideas, the mixing of, know the two lunch tables working together, you know. Humanity period man, we're one people and maybe that's like incorrect English – I'm sorry mom – but you know I went to Louise Wilson's memorial, you know the greatest fashion instructor of all time. And I'm talking about of all timers.
Zane Lowe: Educate us man, tell us
Kanye West: Ok so Louise Wilson was the baddest professor of all time of any fashion school, ever. Notorious for not letting people stop at a 7 or a 8, pushing people to a 12. So the first time that I saw one of her students Pheobe Philo's Céline collection, I was looking at a 12. When I saw McQueen's last show the Atlantis collection, I was looking at a 12. Christopher Kane's Bandage collection I'm looking at a 12. Alber Elbaz I'm looking at a 12. That's the designer, the designer of Lanvin which completely revolutionized the men's sneaker, fashion sneaker industry. Last time I saw her we had dinner at Hakkasan which is my favourite restaurant in London and I think she knew that she was gonna pa** and she just wanted to give me some words of advice moving forward and she was asking me about my daughter, asking me about my wife. And she said so many students, they don't give it their all. And the problem is soon as they do anything halfway good, when they're 2 years old, 3 years old, their parents clap
Zane Lowe: (clapping)
Kanye West: Exactly, that's what she said, they clap. And she just looked at me, she said “Kanye, don't clap.”
Zane Lowe: Aww, what, that's just! How you getting on with that?
Kanye West: I didn't know we were gonna lose her. You know I just um, and she told me she said, you know “thank you for the times you know, when we came to performances” and “this has like really meant a lot to me.” You know she would—
Zane Lowe Wanna take a minute? We'll take a minute. Let's take a minute
Kanye West: That's never happened to me in an interview before
Zane Lowe: You ok?
Kanye West: Yea, I'm ok, I think I'm ok
Zane Lowe: We're gonna change the subject. Here we go. One of the things you said recently which really kinda made me think was you know you really truly believe that you're gonna be the head of the world's first trillion dollar company and the first thing that sprang to my mind Kanye was what is that company going to look like?
Kanye West: Johnny Ive who is like, in my opinion from what I know, Elon Musk included, is like the world's greatest living designer and has the best mentality behind design. And I said from what I know because there might be other, there might be some others, there are a lot that are great but Johnny Ive's the best that I know. He said that people are so concerned at being first as opposed to being better so I think that, I think innovation almost gets too much credit, in a way. So, if we talk about this type of company, it wouldn't be a company of innovation because as Steve Stoute told me driving down the westside highway “there's no money in the innovation.”
Zane Lowe: Yea, and he's got a point
Kanye West: The money's in the repetition, you know so..
Zane Lowe: It's in the quality
Kanye West: And making something of better quality for more people. So it has to be a balance of both. I've said this a few times but I wanna just say it right here for people who haven't read it or seen but I think people think that I pander to fashion particularly. You know because, people say “why fashion?” It's not politics, world war it's not that, it's fashion, it's just a jacket or something, it's just a dress. But I believe that the world can only be saved through design. And I think that the fashion world has.. and when I say through design, I know it's some snarky cla**ist editor that's gonna take that and say “Kanye West said that the world will be saved with a couture dress.” That's not what I'm saying. The mentality behind design, you know art is to be free. Design is to fix
Zane Lowe: This is important, you're talking about the actual, like you say the mentality, the purpose behind it, what it means behind the actual product
Kanye West: No politics, just truth. Does it f**ing work or not. Irrigation, you know, that's a form of design
Zane Lowe: What are those conversations like, because you, one of the great privileges that you're in because you know you push yourself is that you get to find yourself in rooms with people that push themselves. So that conversations can be pushed. And I wonder what those conversations are like because I'm fascinated by somebody like Elon Musk and his absolute inability to be restrained by boundary. And you are very much cut from that same cloth. What is it like when you guys get together and do you talk about things as kind of obvious or [?] as what the future will feel like or is it more casual than that?
Kanye West: That's exactly what we talk about. What does Kanye West and Elon Musk talk about? The fut'
Zane Lowe: The fut' -- TM
Kanye West: So when I put out things that if I say hey, I want to work with Miucca Prada one day on highschool uniforms or something, I just put it out, you know. We just put it out there. Or as I told Obama last time I saw him, hey, I want, I would suggest that you sit with Elon Musk. I would suggest that both you guys go to China. I would suggest this. The, I think it may happen
Zane Lowe: Must be amazing, those conversations man must be amazing
Kanye West: I got scared of the idea you know someone call you crazy so many times you start to believe it. And I almost got scared of the idea of like going crazy in some way but I wasn't going crazy, I was like the only person that wasn't crazy. You know what I'm saying like, I just stand there and I just look like “is anyone else here seeing what I'm seeing? None of you guys are seeing what I'm seeing” or it's just like your Maybach and your house is like that important that you won't move at all
Zane Lowe: It's distractions
Kanye West: That you won't say anything at all in risk of losing something. You won't say anything on anyone's behalf at this point? You know so, if you have that ability to do that, to see that, you know that Walt Disney ability in some way, you have to apply it. You have to use it. You can't be psyched out. You know, everyone's on our side. I was just in my own way, but everyone's on our side and everything that I ever said will happen, will happen. Just as much as you guys saw that Adidas Original Yeezys Season 1 presentation streamed to 42 locations and you saw that front row. The juxtaposition of the people in the front and second rows to where the people standing in the show had come from is the fusion and is the future. It is the gla** shattering of the cla** system, which is the new racism. Cla** is the new way to discriminate against people, to hold people down, to hold people in a place based on where their kids go to school, how much money they make, what they drive, where they live and what type of clothes they have and how much, you know, how much they have in their account for their retirement. To somehow say that this person right here means more than this person. Like I know I tweeted Black Lives Matter but all lives matter. Like, my doorman is more important to me than any head of any company. He keeps us safe. My driver, keeps us safe and goes to work every day. The guy painting the windows at the house when we changed them from white to chocolate brown, you know what the architect suggested, he is just as important as anyone else that walks in that house and grabs a gla** of champagne. It's no more of this separation of what you came from, your race, financial background, education, talent level, beauty. Whatever it is that people use to separate people
Zane Lowe: But was that moment, which I didn't want to talk about but you raised it and I want to actually bring this up because you have to learn from experience. You can't have all those answers straight away, you have to make those mistakes yourself I think in order to come to that level of clarity
Kanye West: And I'm not saying I have answers, I'm just saying these are my current opinions. As I gave my current opinions a year ago, this is my current opinions now
Zane Lowe: Sure, sure, and that's great, that's what we want, that's why I'm asking questions so we get to hear your answers. But when you, I think… Cause you know I was nominated for that Album Of The Year as well as part of the Sam Smith album as a producer and a co-writer
Kanye West: Oh, oh wow
Zane Lowe: Right, so I was at the awards ceremony with the other producers and co-writers that are part of each records. And, like I'm a huge fan of all the nominees that were nominated and I'm a huge fan of Beck and it's funny that you say, you talk about everyone you want to get it to a place where people can exist in their own terms and that leaves it open for fusion. But then like you say you can just push a bu*ton and be back and be old Ye, you know old Yeezy. Is that what happened that night? Just “gaaah, I can't take it I've gotta get up on this stage, I've gotta wild out.” Cause we all thought you were joking. You know what I thought was brilliant about that night? When you did it on the night, I was applauding because I was like, “that was Sun Tzu, that was Art of War.” He waited for the right platform, went up, pretended to do it, walked back down everyone's like “aww, so funny” I was like “he just got the last laugh on this.” And then I woke up the next morning and it was like “naw, he's not an artist” and I was like “aw man, I love that album!”
Kanye West: Yea, I never said that he's not an artist
Zane Lowe: Ok, I'm misquoting you. But you were talking about artistry. And do you learn form those lessons yourself? Is that when you kind of get a little bit closer to understanding what you believe is really important? When you do things like and think, well maybe I did kinda misconstrue that
Kanye West: I think yea I misconstrued it but I think that everybody has a right to an opinion, everyone has a right to be wrong. You know, there could be a lot of people who feel Marshawn Lynch shoulda been handed the ball. But there's a bunch of Patriots fans that are happy he didn't get the ball. And everyone has a right to their opinion. You know, and I expressed my opinion, and I'll take the weight of it
Zane Lowe: He's great though. You know, he is great though. There's three..
Kanye West: Naw you know as I said on the Charlamagne interview when I was ironically having dinner with Taylor Swift, the Beck song starts playing and I was like “this is really good… maybe I might've been wrong!” You know like, and uh..
Zane Lowe: It's a great album man
Kanye West: And I hadn't been in like 6 years. And the Grammy's are definitely like an ex-girlfriend. Soon as you get in a car with them, you wanna go right back home
Zane Lowe: So we're gonna get a record this year, and I'm excited to hear it, I really am excited to hear it, and as we draw closer to the end of this particular talk I want to do it once again bring it back to like, the thing that really --
Kanye West: only one thing I want to say, people say I'm a hypocrite right?
Zane Lowe: Some
Kanye West: People say that right?
Zane Lowe: Some
Kanye West: Yes, I am. 100%. I'm a human being. I'm super hypocritical. I can feel something one time and completely a different way another time. I do it in the design office. I do it in the studio. I'm super hypo- I really love this, I do it when I get dressed. “I love this” (tsk, tsk) “I hate this!”
Zane Lowe: How long does it take you to get dressed on a daily basis?
Kanye West: 3 minutes. 2 minutes. Bars
Zane Lowe: How long does it take your wife to get dressed every day?
Kanye West: Sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes longer. I mean she's a woman
Zane Lowe: Course. You know it seems that um, you know what I love about “Only One” is the interaction and the way that you've been able to create different generations of your life and of your family communicating with one another, through one another, as a portal. And I love that. And I think it's one of those songs that successfully does that. And um, I'm a father, you're a father, it's the greatest thing of all time. No question about it, it is the great level of all time, it's the greatest thing of all time. And, you know your daughter is what, 18 months now? 18 months old? You an only child?
Kanye West: Yes
Zane Lowe: Do you think about giving her brothers and sisters? Do you think about your upbringing and what you went through and how you feel in this life and what it means to have siblings?
Kanye West: Oh, I'm practicing really hard. I try as many times a day as I can. Nori this one is for you! You need a sibling!
Zane Lowe: For all the good ones, and all the ones where everyone's like totally engaged with everything you're saying, for right or for wrong or whatever, I think you've got it totally sussed. I think you know you absolutely know that you've talked recently about being the villain, like how you know everyone wants the villain and everyone does well when the villain opens his mouth kinda thing. But then at the end of the day you can go on another interview and you can show a really softer side and a very understanding and very human side that people who know you will tell me you totally are, 100%. And it's so funny it goes from like “Boooo!” to like “Yeaaaa!” to like “Boooo!” to like “Yeaaaa!” and it's like, I think you've got it sussed, I think you know what's going on all the time with all of this
Kanye West: You win some games and you lose some
Zane Lowe: You win or you learn right?
Kanye West: Yea, you win or you learn. Bam, there's a j**el, I'll take that one with me
Zane Lowe: Right on, quote book. So album this year, sneak attack, no doubt, no question, sneak attack's coming and um, and there was a leaked poster that came out as well, you gonna tour with Rihanna? Is that out there now? Has that been confirmed or not confirmed, or what the story with that it?
Kanye West: I don't believe I'm supposed to confirm or not confirm
Zane Lowe: So that's happening. I've been long enough in the tooth to know what that means! Um, but needless to say you're excited about returning to the stage in some capacity this year and we're looking forward to new music this year
Kanye West: Yea, and I been doing a few performances since doing the SNL performance, did a couple performances out here and of course gonna do the Brits. I've been really liking these performances. I feel like these are like the performance version of that you know Drake, you know of the 6 God album, of the you know If you're Reading This It's Too Late. I feel like I'm a visual extension of what he's doing like sonically
Zane Lowe: Can we talk about Drake for a second cause he's just to me he's the monster at the moment out there
Kanye West: You know… that sh** is good yo!
Zane Lowe: Dude, “6PM in New York” – that moment when he's like opening up and telling the truth about how he feels about his detractors and he's just basically just opening up what's going on is my real honesty, not guarding himself or hiding away with any bravado or anything. Just like you know, “they scream my weaknesses and whisper my accomplishments” like pffff I mean that moment for me is just like, that's what, I mean I love that about him that he's totally open in the sense
Kanye West: I mean yea, that element is great. There's a lot of people that can't rap that can do that. But the main thing is that fact that he's delivering you know a level of product – as I said last interview, I'm a product guy – and he's delivering a level of product to humanity that is of high quality. It works. 80% of the time works all the time!
Zane Lowe: That doesn't make sense!
Kanye West: Haha, but it works. It works. You know what I'm saying. And you have to.. it works. That's it. And I was just thinking like, I don't have any advice for this young man, but what I can say is run. Fly. Go as fast as you can. Don't stop. And you know any time I can be of any service, advice, you know a beat, verse, you know whatever you need. You need some confidential design advice with the shoes you doing over at the other company, I'm not supposed to say that! You know anything that we can collectively do to deliver more awesomeness to the world as a team. You know, not just me and him. Us all
Zane Lowe: Thanks man. I always love talking with you bro, I really do. Alright we're good
Kanye West: Got some vibes? Bars?
Zane Lowe: Bars!
Kanye West: More bars!