When Kanye West speaks, it almost always causes some news buzz. Recently, ‘Ye spoke at a press conference in New Zealand and lived up to the hype bestowed upon him. Journalists in attendance were told Kanye would accept all questions, except any dealing with his mother or gossip. However, ‘Ye actually broke silence on the subject of his mother’s tragic passing and went on to add more on whether he listens to Hip Hop or not and why he doesn’t want to be like Jesus Christ.
After noting that 808’s & Heartbreak was about “loss,” he went on to speak on what the loss of his mother meant to him.
“It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that,” he said, before speaking on his break up. “There is no album that expresses what guys go through after the break-up.“
“I still listen to Hip Hop, actually, like, in my car. I listen to old Wu-Tang [Clan] or something while I’m designing,” he said. “But, I really don’t listen to new Hip Hop albums that come out like that. I really don’t learn the lyrics the way I used to learn the lyrics when I was 18 years old…Like, even albums like Lil Wayne‘s album [Tha Carter III], which I loved, I couldn’t recite the raps for you. I’m just not in that position. Maybe it’s because I’m busy or something. Like, I’m working on shoes for Louis Vuitton or something, and I’m touring…“
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“I’ll just do what I want to do. More than anything, I just want to deliver art.”
Later, one reporter asked if he’d like to be the first black James Bond, a title Diddy originally said he wanted. This caused some buzz and even Kanye had to think twice about what he said.
“I don’t want to be James Bond. I don’t want to fit into this iconic figure that someone else has made. Just like how I don’t want to be Jesus Christ. My whole life, they’re like, you know, I was raised as a Christian, and they’re like ‘Be Christ-like. Be Christ-like.’ I’m like, ‘No! I don’t wanna fuckin’ be Christ-like. I want to be me-like. I want to be the best me. ‘Cause you’re gonna fall short of being Christ-like and then you’ll never quite be happy. And then, you’ll always feel like you gotta give up 20% of your money to try to buy back some of this happiness. It’s like, ‘No. I just want to be me.“
Later, Kanye blogged about this and wanted to share his thoughts on his conference.
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“When I listened back to the New Zealand conference I was like, ‘Whoa this is pretty harsh.’ Sometimes I speak with no filter. I did not mean to be so harsh on the subject of Christianity being that I was a well known Christian. When I was at my mom’s funeral a fucking stranger came up to me and said, ‘I hope you’ve accepted Jesus as your savior so you can see your mother again!’ My entire life, being an African American, Christianity was forced down my throat. Since I was a child, I would ask questions like, ‘So are little babies that can’t speak yet going to hell also?’ I 1,000% believe in God, I believe in Karma, I believe in being a good person. I’m not trying to tell people what they should believe or not believe. To each is his own. I was in situations where someone constantly used Jesus to show me how baaaad a person I was or how not perfect or not Christ-like I was. When I say I don’t want to be Christ-like, I’m saying I’m fine with not being perfect. I’m fine with being a human being. I’m happy with just that.“
