Last year on "Mercy," Kanye West claimed, "Don't do no press but I get the most press, kid." It's true too, Kanye has rarely if ever done any interviews in the past few years. But that all changed last night when the New York Times dropped an incredibly in-depth interview with Kanye called "Behind Kanye's Mask."
In the interview with NYT's Jon Caramanica, Yeezy talked about everything from being in love to his albums to being a trendsetter. If you're looking for a cliff notes version of the over 4,000 word interview, then look no further than this: 30 Amazing Quotes From Kanye West's New York Times Interview.
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"If anyone's reading this waiting for some type of full-on, flat apology for anything, they should just stop reading right now."
"I don't have one regret."
"I'm going to name records that you'll think are cheesy - but like, J-Kwon, "Tipsy." People would think that's like a lower-quality, less intellectual form of hip-hop, but that's always my No. 1."
"You know, if Michael Jordan can scream at the refs, me as Kanye West, as the Michael Jordan of music, can go and say, 'This is wrong.'"
"I love the fact that I'm bad at [things], you know what I'm saying? I'm forever the 35-year-old 5-year-old. I'm forever the 5-year-old of something."
"There are people who have figured out the exact, you know, Kanye West formula, the mix between "Graduation" and "808s," and were able to become more successful at it."
"This album is moments that I haven't done before, like just my voice and drums. What people call a rant - but put it next to just a drumbeat, and it cuts to the level of, like, Run-D.M.C. or KRS-One."
"I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things."
"Dark Fantasy" was my long, backhanded apology. You know how people give a backhanded compliment? It was a backhanded apology. It was like, all these raps, all these sonic acrobatics. I was like: "Let me show you guys what I can do, and please accept me back. You want to have me on your shelves."
"I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump. I honestly feel that because Steve has passed, you know, it's like when Biggie passed and Jay-Z was allowed to become Jay-Z."
"I'm still just a kid learning about minimalism, and he's a master of it. It's just really such a blessing, to be able to work with him. I want to say that after working with Rick, it humbled me to realize why I hadn't - even though I produced "Watch the Throne"; even though I produced "Dark Fantasy" - why I hadn't won Album of the Year yet."
"Well, I just don't want to talk to America about my family. Like, this is my baby. This isn't America's baby."
"I remember when both Gnarls Barkley and Justin [Timberlake] lost for Album of the Year [at the Grammys], and I looked at Justin, and I was like: 'Do you want me to go onstage for you? You know, do you want me to fight?'"
"I've been connected to the most culturally important albums of the past four years, the most influential artists of the past ten years. You have like, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Nicolas Ghesquière, Anna Wintour, David Stern."
"I've had meetings where a guy actually told me, "What we're trying to figure out is how we can control you." In the meeting, to me! Why do you want to control me?"
"If you don't make Christmas presents, meaning making something that's so emotionally connected to people, don't talk to me."
"The idea of Kanye and vanity are like, synonymous. But I've put myself in a lot of places where a vain person wouldn't put themselves in. Like what's vanity about wearing a kilt?"
"I'm a minimalist in a rapper's body."
"Any woman that you're in love with or that loves you is going to command a certain amount of, you know, energy. It's actually easier to focus, in some ways."
"Maybe 90 percent of the time it looks like I'm not having a good time."
"I am in the lineage of Gil Scott-Heron, great activist-type artists. But I'm also in the lineage of a Miles Davis - you know, that liked nice things also."
"I was always considered this crazy hothead kid, but I would always just go and just really break bread with someone who I respected. I will completely bow to anybody I respect."
"it wasn't until I hung out with Dead Prez and understood how to make, you know, raps with a message sound cool that I was able to just write "All Falls Down" in 15 minutes."
"I knew when I wrote the line "light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson" [from the song "Slow Jamz"] I was going to be a big star."
"I am a black new wave artist."
"I'm going to be cliché for a minute and say that great art comes from pain. But also I'd say a bigger statement than that is: Great art comes from great artists. There's a bunch of people that are hurt that still couldn't have made the album [like 808s] that was super-polarizing and redefined the sound of radio."
"People asked me to change my name for [808s]...I think the fact that I can't sing that well is what makes "808s" so special."
"[My Beautiful] Dark [Twisted] Fantasy" and "Watch the Throne": neither was nominated for Album of the Year, and I made both of those in one year. I don't know if this is statistically right, but I'm assuming I have the most Grammys of anyone my age, but I haven't won one against a white person. But the thing is, I don't care about the Grammys; I just would like for the statistics to be more accurate."
"I will be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars, because I got the answers."
"I understand culture. I am the nucleus."
