Kanye West: I’m the Most ‘Honest Celebrity We Have’
Kanye West proffered zen ruminations about his new album, Yeezy Season 2 line, his growing acceptance within the fashion world and why he’s got a legitimate shot at the presidency in 2020 in a lengthy interview with Vanity Fair.
Speaking about the positive reaction to his political proclamation at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, West said he was somewhat taken aback, especially considering the backlash he’s faced in past years.
“And then as soon as I said that, it was like, ‘Wait a second, we would really be into that, because actually if you think about it, he’s extremely thoughtful. Every time he’s ever gotten in trouble, he was really jumping in front of a bullet for someone else. He’s probably the most honest celebrity that we have,'” the rapper said.
West went on to suggest his political ambitions were a natural outgrowth of the influence of his mother and father. “It’s fun to be a rock star, and I’ll never not be one I guess, but there’ll be a point where I become my mother’s child,” West said. “With all the things I’ve done that people would consider to be accomplishments, what’s the point where I become the person that Donda and Raymond West raised?”
Luckily for fans of Kanye West: Rock Star, the rapper remains at work on the long-awaited follow-up to 2013’s Yeezus. Asked when it might arrive, he said, “I’m not sure,” though he did say the LP is still called Swish, adding, “I’m forgetting even what the last name of it was now” (So Help Me God, for those playing at home).
West also discussed his new track, “Fade,” which premiered during the Yeezy Season 2 launch show. “That’s like a sonic landscape, a two-year painting,” he said. “That song I played has been a year and a half in the making and it may be still a year from being complete. But it was to let people get a glimpse at the painting.”
While West regularly makes time for his music, holing up in the studio with collaborators for intense, two-week sessions, fashion and design have become his day job. With the release of Yeezy Season 2, West has become more firmly embedded in the fashion world, which, just a couple years back, he regularly railed against for excluding and dismissing him.
With far less controversy surrounding him now, West mulled the opportunity he has to help spread the wealth of information, which he believes will lead to a more accepting and loving society. West called attempts to stop that flow of information “the greatest travesty,” and expounded the value of an open exchange of ideas and questions, the same kind that happens between himself and his crew of designers.
“I want everyone to win,” he said. “When I run for president, I’d prefer not to run against someone. I would be like ‘I want to work with you.’ As soon as I heard [Ben] Carson speak, I tried for three weeks to get on the phone with him. I was like this is the most brilliant guy. And I think all the people running right now have something that each of the others needs. But the idea of this separation and this gladiator battle takes away from the main focus that the world needs help and the world needs all the people in a position of power or influence to come together.”