Mercurial superstar Kanye West opens up to BBC Radio 1 personality Zane Lowe in a new upcoming interview. Some portions of that conversation released to the Web reveal the hip-hop superstar sharing his thoughts on his controversial Yeezus album, his public image and why he feels it’s his job to create what he calls “product” and why he’s transcended the space that most pop stars occupy.
Kanye believes that his more polarizing works, like Yeezus and his 2008’s, 808s & Heartbreak, will be recognized over time, while radio-friendly projects like Cruel Summer will become relics of their era.
“I was able to start making exactly what was in my mind again,” said Kanye while speaking on Yeezus. “Not having to speak the textures of the time. Cause you know Cruel Summer is definitely Kanye West … If you look at it 200 years from now it’s not gonna stand out in the way that 808s … or Yeezus stands out. And can completely push or redefine or make people say ‘Hey, I completely hate that’ or ‘I completely love that.’ ”
“I just think that I’m a production person. I’m a product guy. I’m a producer,” West said. “So, if I’m working on a John Legend album I’m gonna try to give John Legend the best home for him to stay in. And I’m gonna try to push Pusha T, no pun intended — once again it keeps happening to me, to make the thing that represents what I like about his music the most.”
“And then, for me as Kanye West, I gotta f— s— up. It was just that level of frustration,” Kanye explained. “And this is what frustration … sounds like.”
Kanye also made a reference to pop icon Michael Jackson and said that his persona parallels that of the late superstar.
“There would be no Kanye West if it wasn’t for Michael Jackson. That allowed him to be that, right? So, now let’s take, like, where there’s people who have issues with me as Kanye West — they classify my motivational speeches as ‘rants’ and things like this. Like, ‘Why is he saying that, why is he doing that? Blah blah blah.’ Well, I’ve reached a point in my life where my Truman Show boat has hit the painting.”
“And I’ve got to a point that Michael Jackson did not break down. I have 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,” he explained. “Not just clothing, but water bottle design, architecture, everything that you can think about. And I’ve been at it for 10 years. I look around and I say, ‘Wait a second. There’s no one around here in this space that looks like me and if they are they’re quiet as f—.’ ”
