Kanye West opened up about his departure from Nike in an interview with I Am Tall Boy. The hip-hop star has reportedly inked a new deal with Adidas worth $10 million after relations between he and Nike soured over creativedifferences. Despite previously publicly blasting the sports apparel giant for not handling his deal the way he would have liked, West had a much more gracious demeanor when he spoke of his former business associates.
“I really feel honored to have had the chance to blow Yeezy [sneakers] up with Nike,” West said in the interview. “I really appreciate everything they did for me. I’m not knocking them on the way out or burning no bridges. I apologize for my frustration earlier.”
Additionally, West spoke about how his interests in branding and fashion compare to the approach he has taken with his career in music. He likened the new Adidas deal to his signing with Dame Dash and Roc-A-Fella Records to begin his hip-hop career.
“Man, it just feels good to be able to create more,” West said, “[To] create product that I can control the pricing on, that I can do quality control on and I feel very comfortable to have a great partner backing my ideas and allowing me to think and be creative, giving me that shot the same way how Dame [Dash] gave me a record deal ten years ago, gave me a shot and I was able to do something creative with it.”
