Kanye West | Photo Credits: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.
Kanye West broke his no press policy for a bizarre interview with The New York Times, in which he made a case for his own greatness, declared himself the next Steve Jobs and explained how interrupting Taylor Swift only made him more awesome.
"If anyone's reading this waiting for some type of full-on, flat apology for anything, they should just stop reading right now," West said regarding Swift.
But we couldn't stop reading! Here are the 17 strangest highlights from his career-spanning Q&A:
On how middle school basketball taught him to demand respect: "I was on the junior team when I was a freshman, that's how good I was. But I wasn't on my eighth-grade team, because some coach — some Grammy, some reviewer, some fashion person, some blah blah blah — they're all the same as that coach. Where I didn't feel that I had a position in eighth grade to scream and say, "Because I hit every one of my shots, I deserve to be on this team!" I'm letting it out on everybody who doesn't want to give me my credit."
On fighting for the greater good: "Justice could just be clearing a path for people to dream properly. It could be clearing a path to make it fair within the arena that I play. You know, if Michael Jordan can scream at the refs, me as Kanye West, as the Michael Jordan of music, can go and say, 'This is wrong.'"
On racial politics and math at the Grammys: "I don't know if this is statistically right, but I'm assuming I have the most Grammys of anyone my age, but I haven't won one against a white person. But the thing is, I don't care about the Grammys; I just would like for the statistics to be more accurate."
On his own greatness: "I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things."
On interrupting Taylor Swift: "It's only led me to complete awesomeness at all times. It's only led me to awesome truth and awesomeness. Beauty, truth, awesomeness. That's all it is."
On believing in himself: "I knew when I wrote the line 'light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson' [from the song 'Slow Jamz'] I was going to be a big star."
On his peers: "I am in the lineage of Gil Scott-Heron, great activist-type artists. But I'm also in the lineage of a Miles Davis — you know, that liked nice things also."
On his public demeanor: "Maybe 90 percent of the time it looks like I'm not having a good time."
On his creative influences: "This one Corbusier lamp was like, my greatest inspiration... I'm a minimalist in a rapper's body."
On confidence: "The longer your 'gevity is, the more confidence you build. The idea of Kanye and vanity are like, synonymous."
On why we should all let him be himself: "Like, I want the world to be better! All I want is positive! All I want is dopeness! Why would you want to control that?"
On why everyone should respect him: "Once that happens, everyone wins. The world wins; fresh kids win; creatives win; the company wins."
On being the next Steve Jobs: "I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period.
On his future: "I will be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars, because I got the answers. I understand culture. I am the nucleus."
What do you think of Kanye's interview? Do you think he's the next Steve Jobs?
"If anyone's reading this waiting for some type of full-on, flat apology for anything, they should just stop reading right now," West said regarding Swift.
But we couldn't stop reading! Here are the 17 strangest highlights from his career-spanning Q&A:
On how middle school basketball taught him to demand respect: "I was on the junior team when I was a freshman, that's how good I was. But I wasn't on my eighth-grade team, because some coach — some Grammy, some reviewer, some fashion person, some blah blah blah — they're all the same as that coach. Where I didn't feel that I had a position in eighth grade to scream and say, "Because I hit every one of my shots, I deserve to be on this team!" I'm letting it out on everybody who doesn't want to give me my credit."
On fighting for the greater good: "Justice could just be clearing a path for people to dream properly. It could be clearing a path to make it fair within the arena that I play. You know, if Michael Jordan can scream at the refs, me as Kanye West, as the Michael Jordan of music, can go and say, 'This is wrong.'"
On racial politics and math at the Grammys: "I don't know if this is statistically right, but I'm assuming I have the most Grammys of anyone my age, but I haven't won one against a white person. But the thing is, I don't care about the Grammys; I just would like for the statistics to be more accurate."
On his own greatness: "I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things."
On interrupting Taylor Swift: "It's only led me to complete awesomeness at all times. It's only led me to awesome truth and awesomeness. Beauty, truth, awesomeness. That's all it is."
On believing in himself: "I knew when I wrote the line 'light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson' [from the song 'Slow Jamz'] I was going to be a big star."
On his peers: "I am in the lineage of Gil Scott-Heron, great activist-type artists. But I'm also in the lineage of a Miles Davis — you know, that liked nice things also."
On his public demeanor: "Maybe 90 percent of the time it looks like I'm not having a good time."
On his creative influences: "This one Corbusier lamp was like, my greatest inspiration... I'm a minimalist in a rapper's body."
On confidence: "The longer your 'gevity is, the more confidence you build. The idea of Kanye and vanity are like, synonymous."
On why we should all let him be himself: "Like, I want the world to be better! All I want is positive! All I want is dopeness! Why would you want to control that?"
On why everyone should respect him: "Once that happens, everyone wins. The world wins; fresh kids win; creatives win; the company wins."
On being the next Steve Jobs: "I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period.
On his future: "I will be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars, because I got the answers. I understand culture. I am the nucleus."
What do you think of Kanye's interview? Do you think he's the next Steve Jobs?
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