During the fourth installment of Kanye West’s BBC Radio 1 interview, the rapper-producer spoke about paparazzi issues and his admiration for Kendrick Lamar, a rapper who is going on tour with him for their upcoming “Yeezus Tour.”
“I’m just looking forward to the opportunity to speak to this brother as much as possible,” West said of Lamar in his interview with BBC Radio 1. “Those conversations is gonna be more than everything I said right here ’cause he’s one of our future messengers and I’ma give him them jewels.”
West and Lamar are set to begin their “Yeezus Tour” October 19 in Seattle, Washington. The tour is scheduled to conclude December 7 in Houston, Texas.
Kanye West Says Paparazzi Photography Should Be Legalized
During the interview, West also expressed his dissatisfaction with the paparazzi industry.
AD LOADING...
“Dopeness is what I like the most,” Kanye West said. “People who want to make things as dope as possible and by default make money from it. The thing I like the least are people who only want to make money from things whether they’re dope or not and especially making money at making things as least dope as possible.
“Photography used to be a sexy profession,” West added. “It was like being a ball player, like a rapper or like a venture capitalist or something like that. They used to get all the girls and everything…[Paparazzi] completely changed what photography is supposed to mean. [It’s the] same as how there are plenty of musicians that have sold the fuck out and changed the art of music, where people don’t hold that to the highest level of genius anymore, meaning like, if there’s a high level visual artist or clothing artist, they’ll be held at a higher level of genius points than a musician because the things in music that are selling the most are the least inspired for the most part and the least genius. So, it confuses things. So I take that to paparazzi.
“Paparazzi is not even a necessary evil,” West continued. “It just needs to be legalized…[Give it] publishing because they’re selling our image and they’re selling it in a bad way.”
West was asked if he was more upset that his images were being sold or that they were being photographed in a bad way.
AD LOADING...
“In a bad way and I’m not getting paid for it,” West said. “I want the dopeness and the money. I’m changing things for my daughter. I’ma tell my daughter, by the time she understands what it was, ‘Man, me and your mother were in a completely different situation than you’re in. At that time, paparazzi wasn’t legal, people could take pictures, people could climb over your fence and you wouldn’t even get paid for it.’ You see all these checks you’re getting at age 6 ’cause people taking your picture? You don’t have to worry about a thing again just because people want to take your picture and I made that happen, [North].’ That’s what I’m gonna tell her.”
West has had legal issues with paparazzi photographers. For instance, on September 14, it was reported that Kanye West was charged with battery and attempted grand theft after an altercation with paparazzi in Los Angeles, according to TMZ.
Kanye West has also addressed his issues with paparazzi by comparing them to high school bullies.
“It’s hard to smile when you know that people…are around you only to make money off of you,” Kanye said in August. “If you’re around people that are only there to make money off of you, you already feel like, ‘Wait a second, these aren’t your friends.’ So, if you’re around your friends, your friends make you smile. If you’re around someone—like think about if when you were in high school. If there was someone that came up to you every day to take your money. To get in your pocket. There’s nothing they can say to you that makes it better. It’s almost worse when they say something positive.
AD LOADING...
“The thing that makes me more happy than anything is to not see them,” West continued. “So, if you see them obviously I’m not gonna smile. And it becomes a bit of like an emotional bullying. Someone taunting you as you’re getting on an airplane or taunting you as you’re just going to get yogurt.”
Kanye West’s interview with BBC Radio 1 has been divided into four parts. The first focused on Yeezus and his status as a rockstar. The second installment focused on West’s business endeavors and his hopes for creating the world’s first trillion dollar company. The third part featured West discussing artistic limitations and his work with Jay Z.
The fourth part of Kanye West’s interview with BBC Radio 1 can be seen below.
This series of interviews has also been the focus of a Jimmy Kimmel spoof. West posted a series of tweets about the subject yesterday (September 26), insulting Kimmel. The talk show host then made more jokes about the topic on his program.
AD LOADING...
