Kanye West is not capable of a dull interview. The Chicago rapper, who is in the midst of his Yeezus tour provided plenty of quotables in his sit downs with both Power 106 and 87.1 AMP this morning, covering topics such as the afterlife, the confederate flag, "mental slavery," and his appreciation for Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, The Creator.
Read some excerpts from the interviews below.
On Kendrick Lamar's talent:
That boy good. Ain’t nothing else to say, man. I came out to watch him a couple of nights ago, cause he’s in his hometown. And you know I like to go and see anybody that goes on tour with me cause I feel like it’s a part of the whole show…We need to be giving the people younger than us, as many resources as possible. As opposed to holding back those resources. And that’s the way the old mentality is…There’s times where I definitely got sonned as like the opening act. I just think that this idea of paying dues, it goes too far though. The way people try to not help.
On not performing WTT tracks on tour:
I don’t do any songs from Watch The Throne. I made a pact with Jay Z that we would only do those songs when we’re together…We brothers.
On "mental slavery":
'Cause slavery is now more mental than anything. But mostly I’m talking about, I’m thinking—cause I had hoop dreams back in the days. I’m picturing myself being like a ball player, right? And having like my high school girlfriend, but then making it to the league or like going down to Miami to Club Liv. And then kinda falling short and end up getting like another couple, two, three girlfriends and having to hook them up with some Celine bags and stuff like that. And just writing that kinda story that…I don’t know if that type of stuff might happen or not. But it was my account of like if I went through that type of story as a hooper. And saying that you can be enslaved to that first relationship, but then the second girl got you enslaved cause she could like blackmail you. And then you owe the city, to play good…So, I always looked at like my homies in the league and having 10, 15 points of people pulling at ‘em from all directions.”
On heaven:
I’m not afraid of death either. I believe that I’ma see my mother again. I believe that heaven’s gonna be a beautiful place, but God has provided me with a beautiful child, a beautiful wife, some amazing friends, and some amazing challenges too. It’s kinda fun to have that challenge. It’s fun that I don’t have the infrastructure for what I want to do for certain things.
On justifying his love for Kim Kardashian:
I could have people saying, 'This is going to damage your credibility as an artist or a designer. And I say, 'I don't care. I love this woman.' Or someone could say, 'When the paparazzi surround you, everyone knows you don't like the paparazzi. Why would you be with this person?' And I'm saying, 'I'm being with this person because I love this person and she's worth it to me.
On advice from others & MJ comparisons:
I stay in a room in Kris Jenner’s house so I sit down with Oprah and heads of studios. I’m not gonna mention they names. Everybody got some advice for me and say like ‘Michael Jackson didn’t do it like this. But I aint Michael Jackson, I’m not just a musician. I’m a christian, revolutionary, visionary, products person.
On his admiration for Tyler, The Creator:
He helped me out with some of the [Yeezus] merch. So talented, he understands things ... Did you see his amazing Mountain Dew commercial before it was banned? It’s the best thing in the last year. You know what should be banned? Stuff that’s whack, not stuff that’s controversial. The world is controversial, classist, racist — so what. You guys are selling soda, be glad someone that creative took a moment to help you do what you do.
On using the confederate flag in his merch:
React how you want. Any energy you got is good energy. I represented slavery, my abstract take on what I know about it, I wrote ‘New Slaves.’ So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. What are you going to do?