Few people can conjure the feelings of pomp, hype, and circumstance during interviews quite like Kanye West. Even when he's saying something which quite literally stands at direct odds with the messaging at the root of his earlier work, people are still meticulously following these discussions, often invigorated and disappointed in equal measure.
With this week's return of David Letterman's post-Late Show Netflix experiment My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, those less-than-enthused with recent West developments have plenty to study. The episode, out May 31, is already notable for its moments of touching reflection on the legacy of the late Donda West and some post-filming comments of support from the host.
"I was frightened, honestly, because I had only met him a couple of times on the show and I knew that depending on the day, you weren't quite sure which path you were going to be on," Letterman said when looking back on the interview sessions with the Today team earlier this month. "He was working on what he calls his Sunday Service and I didn't know what to expect. We went to it early in a sound studio in Burbank and it was remarkably spiritual. It was quite moving."
Ahead of the My Next Guest Season 2 launch date, we've compiled some noteworthy moments from the West-centered episode, ranging from his controversial thoughts on Trump to an assessment of his and JAY-Z's complementary narrative stylings. Dive in below.
Kanye's parents continue to inspire him
Kanye says JAY-Z is just as "self-centered" in his lyrics as he is
Drake's "Crew Love" contains one of 'Ye's favorite lines, though he won't mention him by name
Despite their publicly paraded personal issues, West (without mentioning Drake directly) cites "Crew Love" when elaborating on his answer to Letterman's JAY question.
"An artist which I will not mention because I'm not allowed to mention him or any of his family members has a line, well, we had a little beef last year..." Kanye says. "He has this line that I love that says, 'I told my story and made history,' like 'made his story' and 'made history.'"
Kanye isn't backing down on the point he's trying to make about MAGA
He doesn't advocate for a uniform rejection of mental health medications
Sunday Service will have achieved its goal when we have "world peace"
Andy Kaufman gave 'Ye "courage" to challenge the media
Andy Kaufman, the iconic comedian and performance artist whose name was regularly evoked as a potential explanation source for the beginnings of West's MAGA era, has indeed been hugely influential in West's approach to media relations.
This pleased Letterman, who famously welcomed Kaufman to his previous show on numerous occasions.
"Gave me courage, yeah," West says when asked about Kaufman's influence. "How do you deal with the media? Here's an example! I'd far rather be an Andy Kaufman than the majority of the way people are letting the media push them around. I'm in front of the joke, the joke is on everyone else."