When the split between former Roc-A-Fella Records business associates Dame Dash and Jay Z took place in the early 2000s, rapper Kanye West was one of a handful of artists who sided with Jay following the split. And during an interview this week with Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, the Chicago wordsmith revealed the reason why he took the Brooklyn emcee’s side during the ordeal.
According to Kanye, despite relating to Dame more, he felt he had more to learn from Jay Z, specifically his ability to be personable.
“The problem was with Dame his truth was more accurate and more closer to what mine was, but his technique was harsh for me as a young kid and stuff,” he said. “I felt like a little bit more pressure. And Jay Z was a nice guy. And also I felt like I had that truth that Dame has in him. We the same. Me and Cam, me and Dame, we the same. But I wanted to learn this technique that Jay got of actually being likable…So, Jay Z know how to move in a room full of vultures. You know what I’m saying? As his little brother, I needed to learn that technique because I got something that God want me to give the world.”
Kanye West Responds To Being Called A “Walking Contradiction”
During the interview, Kanye was called a “walking contradiction” by host Charlamagne Tha God who commented on the rapper calling out major corporations and then later asking for their help. Kanye responded by explaining that he’s more so critical of the people who run the corporations and not the corporations themselves.
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“It ain’t that I feel like a slave,” said Ye. “We are mentally enslaved. We enslaved to brands. We enslaved to like a Benz symbol. We enslaved to chains. A woman is enslaved to the concept of diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Like girls in London don’t even wear engagement rings. That’s all been programmed into us. When we born, we born artists, we born free, and then we held down by society’s perception of us. We just don’t want to be embarrassed…I’m not denouncing the corporations. I’m denouncing the people that have the job at the corporations at that time…I ain’t going at Nike as a corporation. I’m going at the people that’s running the corporation and I’m saying ‘I’mma hit you in the chest until you listen to me.’”
Kanye West Says Bound Was Inspired By “White Trash T-Shirts”
Kanye also offered a little commentary on his “Bound 2” music video, which features fiancée Kim Kardashian. He says the video was inspired by “white trash t-shirts” and was supposed to look phony.
“Oh, I wanted to take white trash t-shirts and make it into a video,” said the rapper. “Yes, I wanted it to look as phony as possible…I wanna show you that this is the Hunger Games. I want to show you that this is the type of imagery that’s being presented to all of us. And the only difference is it’s a black dude in the middle of it…I don’t have a problem with looking stupid. I don’t have a problem with making mistakes in front of people.”
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Kanye West Speaks On Helping Chicago
The G.O.O.D. Music rapper also touched on his hometown of Chicago and revealed that he needs to be in a position to apply his thoughts to assist his city in any way. Plagued with issues pertaining to gun violence, the city of Chicago has one of the highest homicide rates in the country.
“What I did with Yeezus is I took the power into my own hands,” said Kanye. “I wanted to remove the hits from it. I wanted to remove the chorus’. Of course, ‘Blood On The Leaves’ and ‘Bound’ is got a chorus. You know, I like resolve the album and let everybody know it’s all good at the end of it. But it’s not all good. Like I said I’m from Chicago, people is dying every day and everybody think we gonna do a benefit concert and help that out, but I need to be put in position to be able to apply my thoughts—the same thoughts you know, before I came in the game rappers was killing each other…The thing is we not each other’s enemies. I’m showing us how we can work together. But in fashion or whatever or product design they try to marginalize us and say we can only have an urban clothing line.”
Since the launch of his Yeezus tour last month, Kanye has appeared on radio shows across the country to discuss his tour, the people he looks up to as role models, and a number of other topics. In numerous interviews, the rapper has compared himself to the likes of Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and Italian artist Michelangelo.
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Kanye’s Yeezus tour is currently slated to make stops in New Orleans, Houston, and Chicago, before concluding in late December.
Video of Kanye’s interview can be found below (via XXL).
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