Kanye West has whipped up a shitstorm over the course of the past few days, from his endorsement of Donald Trump to his request for Beyonce and Jay Z to return his calls to this morning's cancellation of the remainder of the "Saint Pablo" tour.
Situated at the eye of this particular shitstorm, one of many that have occured over the course of Kanye's career, was the release of a 35-minute interview with 'Surface' in which Kanye delves into his views on art, race, philosophy, business, fashion, design, and how they all intersect. It amounts to a statement of unwavering optimism that may or may not reassure Kanye fans frustrated with his caprice.
If you don't have time to watch the full interview, click through the gallery to read the most essential Kanye West quotes that it produced.
He hates answering questions
"I’m really bad with answering questions. Usually, I don’t even answer them. I try to find inspiration inside of the question. I think, and I jump from one beam of inspiration or energy to the next, as opposed to explaining the energy. In general, the hard part about interviews, for me, is the idea of two plus two equals four. I always refuse to land at four. Landing at four is hella basic."
DONDA
DONDA lives
"In some ways, my dream is already happening because of the people I’ve worked with and the mental pushups they go through. I hate when someone comes and works with me for a couple weeks or two months, and then they try to tell people they’ve worked with Kanye West. You haven’t worked with Kanye West unless you’ve had to redo a project 100 times, or had to word something in a specific, perfect way, to communicate it in the exact. That [last statement] was ironic, because I’m not communicating well at all."
[INTERVIEWER: "How do you manage to think about art and fashion and music—all of these worlds you’re working in? Do you ever have to compartmentalize them?"]
"It’s all one. It’s in your hands, like being a piano player, the keys of life just playing a chord. People can’t wrap their head around why a wrong note drives me crazy, but I’m trying to hear a beautiful chord. People say, “If you’ve got this, this, and this, why are you so mad about that?” Well, I’m trying to play a chord with two hands, and then eventually a symphony."
He has a radical vision of utopia in which people don't talk
"I don’t think people are going to talk in the future. They’re going to communicate through eye contact, body language, emojis, signs. Imagine that. If everyone was forced to learn sign language.
"When I was a kid, I’d see people who only spoke sign language and think, Wow, that’s gotta be difficult. I was really happy I could speak. Now, I would prefer to [pantomimes singing] do that without having to use words. It’s funny because I’ve made a living off of words, but words get in the way of what you really want to say.
"Thank God for emojis. So often one emoji goes a long way and lets me get on with my whole day."
He refuses to negotiate
I think business has to be stupider. I want to do really straightforward, stupid business—just talk to me like a 4-year-old. And I refuse to negotiate. I do not negotiate. I can collaborate. But I’m an artist, so as soon as you negotiate, you’re being compromised. And it's extremely difficult to get your point across through compromise. So I'm just patient now. I'll just wait until I'm in a situation where there's no negotiation.
He believes the perfect brand is like water
"The ultimate goal is to be like water, to create in an invisible way, to create something where you can add some kind of information that can help people along their path."
20s
He believes people in their 20s will change the world
"There is currently a lack of people in power who are motivated by the idea of helping people, but thanks to the internet, there are people who would never have made it through a corporate system who are able to jump into positions of power in their twenties. They can collectively work on ideas for the new world."
He believes acting cool when you're not actually cool is a serious offense
“More people need to know that they’re not fucking cool. In today’s world, having money has allowed people who are extremely uncool to think that they’re cool and carry it like that. People who really are cool and people who really are artists and have ideas have to literally turn in their cool card to society just to make it past the age of 28. It’s either die at 28 or turn in your cool pass.”
His parents inspire him to promote education
"Both of my parents are educators. I think that knowledge is power, and it’s not just about the information that’s held in books. It’s about codes that are held in cultures... I feel a responsibility because of my parents. They’re activists and were in the world-changing business."
He believes life is like the Legend of Zelda
"Any extra goodwill or good skills I’ve gained I learned from [my parents], and take along on my Legend of Zelda role-playing path in life. Life’s like a RPG [role-playing game]. When you roll the dice, you’ve got three guys with you, and then you meet someone else, and then another person gives you information. That’s how I met [designer and dealer] Axel Vervoordt—and I don’t have to explain who that is; [you] can get it off of Google."
Architecture
He once renovated his hotel room without the hotel's permission
"I was living at this hotel apartment in Paris, Justin [Saunders] was out there, and we were working on some ideas. I was like, 'This space is wack. What can I do?' He said, 'My favorite architect is Joseph Dirand.' So I reach out to Joseph Dirand, he comes by, and he gives some ideas. He says, 'You gotta cover up this nasty bookshelf over here, and you gotta cover up this glass bannister.' We went and plastered over the bookshelf and the bannister in the hotel room. We didn’t nail up a curtain, but plastered over it. It’s still like that to this day."
He sees synesthesia as his X-Men "mutant handicap"
"I have synesthesia—I see sound. And I actually have paintings and drawings from high school where I was trying to show what the sounds in front of me looked like.
"I think it’s my mutant handicap. All X-Men have a little handicap that helps them become X-Men. I didn’t know the term synesthesia until I was working on Cruel Summer. Halfway into writing that, I really understood that my entire life I had been trying to describe this condition of mine: through painting, through this seven-screen Surround Vision film we shot in Qatar, through all these things.
"Most people who run publicly traded companies have a tendency to be extremely fearful, especially if they’re not the founder, because they have to answer to people. And then they’ve got a wife and kids or a husband and kids. I think that often people can be scared of brilliant people throughout time—Einstein, Newton, Thomas Jefferson. I’ve said the successful man is the one who can afford to make the most mistakes. Or I’ll say something really obvious, like: You have to look past the surface to embrace opportunity.
"I guess this is the difference of a visionary—they have X-ray vision. They can see past the surface, and they can also see into the future. It’s like Dark Side of the Moon: If you look through the pyramid, you can see the core and the beauty in the middle. [Pink Floyd’s] Dark Side of the Moon [album] cover is the best description of a visionary."
He believes blackness is evolving
"10 years from now to be black is going to be a completely different thing, because of what we’re doing now. Through culture. And business. And interracial dating. There was an moment in rap, through the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, when people said, 'Hey, I’m Jewish, own a record label, and I need a black guy.' Because of what we’ve done at Donda, collectively, 20 years from now, people are gonna go, 'We need a black guy to creative direct something.'"