Kanye West's Yeezus may be not be performing too well on the charts, but nonetheless the album evoked strong sentiments from people, whether it's hatred or love, it seems like that's what 'Ye was going for. Although some fans took the album as misstep for Kanye, who has an extremely solid history of albums, the rapper says during the first part of his lengthy interview with Zane Lowe that he's not here to making your listening easy. Yeezus seemed to be all about what Kanye wanted to do-- not what fans might want or expect.
The first part of 'Ye's interview with BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe dropped today, in which the rapper talks about making his controversial album and becoming a "product person"-- basically a person that is looking for the 'product' in everything, whether it's G.O.O.D. Music signees like John Legend and Pusha T, or a water bottle.
"I was able to start making exactly what was in my mind, again, and not having to speak with the textures of the time," Kanye said concerning Yeezus, kicking off the conversation.
Kanye explained during the interview how his voice is his medium when it comes to making art. "My voice is only compressed to express myself artistically through music, it's the only place where I actually have a deal, so I can only consistently make things in music. So I'ma take music and I'ma try to make it 3-dimensional," Kanye explained. "I'ma try to make something that jumps on and affects you, in a good or bad way. Whether it's I'm going into a scream in the middle of the track 'cause that's just the way I feel. I'm not here to make easy-listening, program-able music."
"This is what frustration sounds like," he added later.
Kanye West also gave respect to Michael Jackson through out his interview, applauding him for breaking down barriers without which there would be no Kanye West, the rapper says. "I was able to ascend to massive levels of height and never stop right? Because of the foundation my mother and my father and my grandfather laid through civil rights, what Michael Jackson did with music videos and the ground he broke. There would be no Kanye West if it wasn't for Michael Jackson," Kanye says.
The "Yeezus" rapper also went on to speak on his rants, or as he likes to call them, motivational speeches. "People who have issues with me as Kanye West...They classify my motivational speeches as like rants and things like this, like 'why is he saying that, why is he doing that, blah blah.' Well I've reached a point in my life where my "Truman Show" boat has hit the painting," Kanye said, comparing his life to that of the Jim Carrey movie "The Truman Show." He went on, "And I've gotten to a point that Michael Jackson did not break down, I've reached the glass ceiling-- as a creative person, as a celebrity. When I say that it means I want to do product, I am a product person. Not just clothing, but, water bottle design, architecture, everything that you could think about. And I've been at it for ten years, and I look around, and I say, 'wait a second, there's no one in this space that looks like me, and if they are, they're quiet as FUCK,'" 'Ye concludes.
He went on to turn the conversation to the current state of rap and radio, "When I say, hey, this is Pusha T, this is what it is, I have to remind Pusha T that he's Pusha T. Because, the radio, if they're not playing a song of his that has an r'n'b hook on it, or works at a certain level of trap tempo and is played at Club LIV, it's like we forget of that Clipse album, that meant everything."
Kanye continued before taking claim for the leather jogging pants which have been trending, "Rappers didn't wanna be no r'n'b nigga, now the rappers is the new r'n'b niggas, rappers is the new radio. Like where is the culture at? So then I scream and I'm sitting in the middle of it, whether I'm at a dinner with Anna Wintour or I'm at a listening session with Pusha, or me and Virgil are in Rome giving designs to Fendi over and over and getting our designs knocked down. Brought the leather jogging pants six years to Fendi-- and they said no-- how many motherfuckers you done seen with a leather jogging pant?!"
Kanye ended triumphantly, "Rap the new rock'n'roll. We culture. Rap is the new rock'n'roll...We the real rockstars, and I'm the biggest of all of them."
Watch Part 1 of the interview below, with three more parts on the way.