Kanye West appears on the cover of the latest issue of Interview Magazine, which includes an exclusive interview between 'Ye and director Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave, Shame). Throughout their conversation, they discussed Yeezus, racism, the GRAMMYs, the "Bound 2" video and much more.
Read choice excerpts from the interview below, and peep the cover as well as a series of original images from article in the gallery above.
On My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy:
"Dark Fantasy was the fifth instalment of a collection that included the four albums before it... it's kind of the 'Luke, I am your father' moment." He also told McQueen that he finished writing and recording "New Slaves" as he was shooting the video for it. "It's very important to me that they're completely in sync with what's happening in society at that time—that they're very timeless, but very up to date," he said.
On His Songwriting Process:
"It's very important to me that they're completely in sync with what's happening in society at that time - that they're very timeless, but very up to date."
On The "Bound 2" Video:
"I think people are afraid of dreams, and that video is one of the closest things to the way that dreams look and feel, or the way joy looks and feels, with the colors. You know, I think there are rules to fashion, with the all-black everything, and rules to art, with white galleries. There are rules to how a lot of things are: the concrete jungle, stone pavement, brick walls. There are even rules to what a Brooklyn apartment looks like. But this video completely didn't respect any of those rules whatsoever. [laughs] It's a dream, and I think the controversy comes from the fact that I don't think most people are comfortable with their own dreams, so it's hard for them to be comfortable with other people's dreams."
On Being A Fine Artist:
"I went to art school from the time I was 5 years old. I was, like, a prodigy out of Chicago. I'd been in national competitions from the age of 14. I got three scholarships to art schools - to St. Xavier, to the American Academy of Art, and to the Art Institute of Chicago - and I went to the American Academy of Art. So the joke that I've actually played on everyone is that the entire time, I've actually just been a fine artist. I just make sonic paintings, and these sonic paintings have led me to become whatever people think of when you say 'Kanye West'".
On Fatherhood:
"It's all brand new, how it feels to be a father... there are some things that I understand, certain things that I don't understand, certain things that I like to get off my chest in interviews, certain things that I want to talk about. But when we talk about love, I don't have an answer. All I can say is that I'm happy I have it."
On Success:
"Well, influence isn't my definition of success - it's a by-product of my creativity. I just want to create more. I would be fine with making less money. I actually spend the majority of my money attempting to create more things. Not buying things or solidifying myself or trying to make my house bigger, or trying to show people how many Louis Vuitton bags I can get, or buying my way to a good seat at the table. My definition of success, again, is getting my ideas out there."
Read the whole exchange here.