Following the release of a 50-second preview of Zane Lowe’s interview with Kanye West last week, the first part in the in-depth conversation with the Yeezus crafter has been released. During Kanye’s chat with the BBC Radio 1 personality, the G.O.O.D. Music emcee touched on his most recent project, Yeezus, and how that album compares to his label’s most recent collaborative work, Cruel Summer.
According to Kanye an album like Yeezus or his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak, has the ability to stand out hundreds of years from now whereas a project like Cruel Summer has less staying power due to the number of radio-friendly records featured on the album.
“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.’”
Kanye was later asked to describe Yeezus in his own words and went on to detail how he creates music for the likes of John Legend and Pusha T as well as for himself. While speaking on making music for himself he touched on his need to “fuck shit up” before commenting on the sound of frustration heard on Yeezus.
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“I just think that I’m a production person. I’m a product guy. I’m a producer,” ‘Ye revealed. “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 fuck shit up…It was just that level of frustration,” Kanye explained while detailing the other projects he worked on while creating Yeezus. “And this is what frustration fuckin’ sounds like. This is what frustration sounds like.”
Kanye West Praises Michael Jackson, Calls Rants “Motivational Speeches”
Following his remarks on Yeezus and the creative process behind his sixth studio album, Kanye referenced the late Michael Jackson and revealed that there would be no Kanye West without the famed singer. But according to the rapper, he feels he’s at a place in his career where he’s now surpassed Jackson and has reached the “glass ceiling” in his music career.
“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,” Kanye explained. “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. 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 fuck.’”
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Kanye’s full interview with BBC Radio 1 can be found below (via Complex).
