Kanye West
I have decided in 2020 to run for president.
Fashion is merely an opinion. And I've got a lot of opinions.
I can analyze people's intentions. Immediately. That's just a warning. To everyone.
I'm not always going to say things the perfect way, the right way. But I'm going to say how I feel.
I don't even listen to rap. My apartment is too nice to listen to rap in.
I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice.
I'm giving all that I have in this life. I'm opening up my notebook, and I'm saying everything in there out loud.
In Paris, you're as far as possible from the land of pleasant smiles.
I ain't here to argue about his facial features. Or here to convert atheists into believers. I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers the way Kathie Lee needed Regis that's the way yall need Jesus.
I would hear stories about Steve Jobs and feel like he was at 100 percent exactly what he wanted to do, but I'm sure even a Steve Jobs has compromised. Even a Rick Owens has compromised. You know, even a Kanye West has compromised. Sometimes you don't even know when you're being compromised till after the fact, and that's what you regret.
The most genius thing about the way I create is to create with other geniuses.
People have me pinned as a shark or a predator in some way, and in no way am I that. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone. I want to defend people. I want to help people.
I think I do myself a disservice by comparing myself to Steve Jobs and Walt Disney and human beings that we've seen before. It should be more like Willy Wonka... and welcome to my chocolate factory.
People always say that you can't please everybody. I think that's a cop-out. Why not attempt it? 'Cause think of all the people you will please if you try.
It was a strike against me that I didn't wear baggy jeans and jerseys and that I never hustled, never sold drugs.
I definitely think, generally, rap is misogynistic.
I dislike the concept of 'chic' being the highest compliment for a human being. I'd rather someone be nice than to be chic.
You know what should be banned? Stuff that's whack. The world is controversial. The world is classist. The world is racist.
I told y'all I didn't vote, right? But if I would've voted, I would've voted for Trump.
The dinosaurs aren't remembered for much more than their bones. When humanity's gone, what do we give to this little planet that we're on, and what could we do collectively, removing the pride?
Our focus needs to be less on what our legacy's going to be or how we can control each other and more how we can give to each other.
Blacks, especially in America, have been raised with a slave mentality - they don't feel that they have the right to speak as loud as possible.
Thirty-three-years-old, still creating art. It's rage, it's creativity, it's pain, it's hurt, but it's the opportunity to still have my voice get out there through music.
I'm here to fight for the re-education of what celebrity is: to say, 'Yes, we are celebrities, but yes, we're also innovators. We're also inventors. We're also thoughtful.'
Do I worry about being in the public eye and raising kids? Yeah. Any situation you're in, you're gonna worry about raising kids. But it's champagne problems, too. There are people who can't feed their kids.
The concept of commercialism in the fashion and art world is looked down upon. You know, just to think, 'What amount of creativity does it take to make something that masses of people like?' And, 'How does creativity apply across the board?'
Michael Jordan changed so much in basketball, he took his power to make a difference. It's so much going on in music right now and somebody has to make a difference.
I'll say things that are serious and put them in a joke form so people can enjoy them. We laugh to keep from crying.
I used to have insecurity about my finances, then I announced that I had debt, and now I don't have any insecurities.
Madonna, I think, is the greatest visual musical artist that we've ever had. If you look at her photo log, the photographers that she was able to work with throughout her career framed her in the proper way. It was the proper context. It was that visual that made sure that everything was gonna cut through in a certain way.
Fashion breaks my heart.
It's always going to be a fight for anyone who isn't an older white man. I want to fight for anyone who doesn't have a fight.
I wouldn't say that anyone in fashion is on my side. I don't think there's anyone on my side.
The concept of Kimye has more cultural significance than what Page Six could write.
Man, I'm the No. 1 living and breathing rock star. I am Axl Rose; I am Jim Morrison; I am Jimi Hendrix.
If we go on your iPhone and go to the dictionary and look up 'humble,' 80 per cent of the definition is negative. It's a controlling word. It's a way to control the masses and to control the sheep.
I didn't want to play it boring and safe. I also didn't want to innovate too much. Second albums, man, they're even scarier than first ones.
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.
I can always tell if a band has a British rhythm section due to the gritty production.
Every time I say something that's extremely truthful out loud, it literally breaks the Internet.
Why, if someone is good in one field can they not be accepted or given the slightest opportunity to express and be creative in other fields?
I know how to swim through backlash. I can tread water through backlash... If anything, that's all giving me power.
But for me to have the opportunity to stand in front of a bunch of executives and present myself, I had to hustle in my own way. I can't tell you how frustrating it was that they didn't get that. No joke - I'd leave meetings crying all the time.
My goal is just to be respected as a man when I walk down the street with my family. I don't care what your job is, you're not gonna talk down to me, you're not gonna try to get a rise out of me. I'm a man first. And in establishing that, some interesting things have happened.
I'm inspired by Walt Disney. I'm inspired by Howard Hughes. I'm inspired by Henry Ford. I'm inspired by Steve Jobs. I mean, I'm inspired by James Perse.
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.
I'm pretty calculating. I take stuff that I know appeals to people's bad sides and match it up with stuff that appeals to their good sides.
I really appreciate the moments that I was able to win rap album of the year or whatever.
Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed.