Kanye West Compares Himself To Steve Jobs & dead prez

    Kanye West once said he doesn’t do press but that he gets the most press. While the press has been buzzing about his latest project, June 18’s Yeezus, West took a moment to do press, speaking with Jon Caramanica of The New York Times. In the interview, which also discusses this album’s influences, West compares himself to Steve Jobs and dead prez.

    “I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means,” Kanye West said. “I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump. I honestly feel that because Steve has passed, you know, it’s like when Biggie passed and Jay-Z was allowed to become Jay-Z…I’ve been connected to the most culturally important albums of the past four years, the most influential artists of the past ten years. You have like, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Nicolas Ghesquière, Anna Wintour, David Stern.” 

    West also explained how his emceeing evolved after being influenced by Talib Kweli, Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) and dead prez

    “I used to have tracks that sounded like Timbaland; I had tracks that sounded like [DJ Premier]. But Jay-Z was an amazing communicator that made the soul sound extremely popular. And because I could make the soul sound in my sleep, it finally gave me a platform to put the message that my parents put inside of me and that dead prez helped to get out of me and Mos Def and [Talib] Kweli, they helped to get out of me: I was able to put it, sloppily rap it, on top of the platform that Jay-Z had created for me…Before, when I wanted to rap, my raps sounded like a bit like Cam’ron; they sounded a bit like Mase; they sounded a bit like Jay-Z or whoever. And it wasn’t until I hung out with dead prez and understood how to make, you know, raps with a message sound cool that I was able to just write ‘All Falls Down’ in 15 minutes.”

    His connection to dead prez must have been strong. In this interview, West declares, “I am dead prez.” 

    “That’s how I discovered my style. I was just hanging out with them all the time in New York. I would produce for them. You know, I was able to slip past everything with a pink polo, but I am dead prez. And now, because I was able to slip past, I have a responsibility at all times.”

    Much of the recent conversation surrounding West’s Yeezus has been around his work with Rick Rubin. According to reports, West and Rubin have been fine-tuning the album, making some changes before it is released. This interview confirms those reports, with West explaining how much Rubin has helped him. 

    “For [Rubin], it’s really just inside of him. I’m still just a kid learning about minimalism, and he’s a master of it. It’s just really such a blessing, to be able to work with him. I want to say that after working with Rick, it humbled me to realize why I hadn’t — even though I produced Watch the Throne; even though I produced “Dark Fantasy” — why I hadn’t won Album of the Year yet,” West shared. 

    “This album is moments that I haven’t done before, like just my voice and drums. What people call a rant — but put it next to just a drumbeat, and it cuts to the level of, like, Run-DMC or KRS-One,” he added. “The last record I can remember — and I’m going to name records that you’ll think are cheesy — but like, J-Kwon, “Tipsy.” People would think that’s like a lower-quality, less intellectual form of Hip Hop, but that’s always my No. 1. There’s no opera sounds on this new album, you know what I mean? It’s just like, super low-bit. I’m still, like, slightly a snob, but I completely removed my snob heaven songs; I just removed them altogether.” 

    Kanye West’s Yeezus has been highly discussed since it was announced. He then made headlines by debuting a new song and video with “New Slaves” on buildings using a projector. Yeezy also added Rick Rubin as the Executive Producer of the album recently. The album is set for release June 18. 

    RELATED: Kanye West Confirms “Yeezus” Guests, Rick Rubin As Executive Producer 

    128 thoughts on “Kanye West Compares Himself To Steve Jobs & dead prez

    1. You are no Dead Prez, sir, not even close, nor are you anyway similar to Steve Jobs. Please grow up and learn to be yourself.

    2. he talking all this dead prez stuff. How anybody supposed to take you serious as some type of black revolutionary and you wit Kim Kardashian????

    3. Naw bro, u far from dead prez. Checkout thegrandreport, they got some cool entertainment news on there as well

    4. “This album is moments that I havent done before, like just my voice and drums” LOL weak ass nigga, yeah cause you got no skills behind the boards, you cant play one instrument, or read/write music. This nigga is so full of himself. He got lucky cause he was a industry nigglet hangin around big names..just like puffy did. Juicy J could kill this niggas beats in his sleep.

      1. Yes he did, and I have to agree. Juicy J behind the boards making crazy beats with soul samples since the early-mid 90s. Juicy and DJ Paul are probably the most underrated production duo of all-time. While Kanye is a household name, that isn’t a measurement of production skill-set. Educate yourself.

      2. Not to mention that 3-6 Mafia created “Krunk” music which influenced and opened the door for an entire new generation artists that made commercially successful music. Also the only producer to win an Oscar. I do not particularly like Juicy’s rapping style these days, but denying his production skills is just ignorant and misinformed.

      3. Oh and also, is it fair to compare Mike Dean to Kanye? You know since Dean has done most of the in-house production for G.O.O.D. music for the past 5 years or so. He has publicly stated that Juicy J and DJ Paul are his favorite producers in the past.

    5. For real like who bumps this simple ass niggas shit? This nigga think he so legendary and all his shit is weak as fuck to me. That Throne album was boring as fuck and niggas just drooled all over it! These kids on youtube w fl studio make better beats than this coon.

      1. Ok u succeeded and not liking what a lot of people like….I clap for you would you like a cookie? hold on i’ll get one

    6. Holiday styles nigga where the fuck you thuggin at, il take off your head with a louiville slugger bat says:

      No idea why anyone would give money to Kanye by buying his album guy is a complete whingeing moaning multi-millionaire asshole that got a retarded fame hungry slut pregnant

      Don’t care how good the beats are I refuse to support this self obsessed FUCK-BOY

      1. and you sound like a bitch ass hater guess which one I’d rather listen to

        you’re gonna complain about Kanye whinin then you’re gonna go and bump the next underground rapper.. that’s pissing and moaning about something different. foh! only difference is he ain’t got half the wealth Kanye has. what, when you get money you can’t whine anymore? fuck does that make sense

        self-obsessed I’ll give you that he has a massive ego but the whining part is stupid af. guess what, damn near every rapper is whinin about somethin if they ain’t on about money & bitches. you might as well bitch at Kanye for screaming in his records or something else irrelevant

      2. He is a fuck-boy biggest asshole in the game guys worth like 100 mill walks around like hes facing life in jail fuck him and that fame whore bitch crying bout getting his pic took shouldn’t have messed with ray j’s throw-away you attention seeking cunt

      3. ^This… probably the best comment I have read on this board arguably ever. Tip of the hat to you sir.

    7. The best thing for Kanye is to flop HARD on this album. He loves to talk that militant shit to white audiences. Ain’t no hood in this boy.

    8. The only comparison i’d give to Kanye West is Vanilla Ice cause he only makes music for the Whites. How can you talk all this black power bullshit but than plant your seed in a white girl. What he doesnt realize is by doing this he’s alienating both races from him and will most likely flop hard. Kanye needs to go back to his old ways and making hits like barry bonds with my nigga weezy and get off this hipster shit!!!

    9. Kanye may be a douche but he’s been on fire for 3 years. Looking forward to the album.

    10. Why are you drake haters so mad. You are mad that drake is the face of rap and he is the only one thats able to go platinum in a week. Are you mad he has the most number 1 hits in rap and only been in the game a few years. You mad that no1 can make hits like him today and his tours are the highest selling tours out of all rappers right now. You mad everyone wants to hear drake and drake songs are allways the most viewed most talked about and most downloaded. You mad that your favourite rapper will never be as popular and sucessfull as drake is right now. Drake runs rap drake is the face of rap and no rap song will be a song unless drakes on it. DRAKE RUNS RAP YOU HATERS SO STAY MAD

      1. he does have the most number 1 hits you can look that up his tours are the highest grossing of rappers you can look that up aswell all his new songs have the most views you can look that up aswell.

      2. He does not have any #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, his tours are not the highest grossing of any rapper and his new songs do not have the most views. You’re wrong.

    11. Ye is and has always been ions ahead of his musical contemporaries and at times, society itself….he needn’t refer to himself as a genius, his work reflects that assertion….critically acclaimed, commercially viable, and universal acceptance by all socio-ethnic backgrounds while releasing music true to one’s vision is a difficult tightrope to muneuver….he’s done well thus far, who knows what’s to come tho….

      1. THIS GOTTA BE SOME HIPSTER WHITE DUDE… KANYE AIN’T DO SHIT BUT SELL HIMSELF TO WHITE PEOPLE. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS. STFU.

    12. fuck this guy comparing himself to dead prez. why do you need to taint the image of one of the something pure with that. when you stop being obsessed by consumerism, when you stop dumbing your audiences down, when you practice a bit of humility and deliver an actual conscious message maybe then you can compare!

    13. fuck this guy comparing himself to dead prez. why do you need to taint the image of something pure with that. when you stop being obsessed by consumerism, when you stop dumbing your audiences down, when you practice a bit of humility and deliver an actual conscious message maybe then you can compare!

      1. wow u a fuckboy. he just showed respect to dead prez and put them on. they probably appreciate it, but u too stupid to see.

      2. @ANON Yea becuz white people are gonna run out and buy a dead prez album just becuz Kanye mentioned them. You sir, are an idiot.

    14. I really understand Kanye.
      He’s on another level, i mean, back when black people was treated like shit in america, and now, everything changed. He’s not acting like rich white people like a saw in some coments here, he’s just in another level of his career/life.

      1. “He’s not acting like rich white people like a saw in some coments here, he’s just in another level of his career/life.”…………..idiot smh.

        U obviously dont understand shit, Kayne is one of the most materialistic niggas in the rap game, lol.

      2. what is material? he likes those things because they are results of designers and artists of a different medium.

      3. “what is material? he likes those things because they are results of designers and artists of a different medium.”……..What da fuck is u talkin bout?try and word ya sentences a lil better, lol.

        Dude buys all white made shit then talks about slavery, fuckin hypocrite.

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    16. the people he just named are just people from the western society, where are the other societies ?

    17. dr donda west will be rolling in her grave. from making poppy euro hits to wearing skirts to dating kim kardashian to this. smh

    18. yes, we need that black conciousness in hiphop. after dead prez and blackstar came jus allah, now we need a new one leader of black rap.

    19. …”Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Nicolas Ghesquire, Anna Wintour, David Stern.”

      I AGREE ‘TIL HENRY FORD

    20. When did he ever have tracks that sounded like DJ Premier?? I’d like to hear that, drop that electro bullshit and go back to that soul Kanye.

    21. Kanye got a lotta balls comparin himself to Dead Prez. Those dudes are communitiy activists who wear Timbs, not skirts. Them dudes go to Washington to speak to Congress, not Vera Wang to buy man purses.

      1. The dude claims he’s dead prez and names all the wealthy capitalists he admires. someone wasn’t paying attention to the lyrics or something.

      2. no, friend, you don’t understand. he’s talking about power, taking over, not being a perpetual revolutionary.

      3. @ANON you can’t play both sides, your down… or your not. And he CONTINUALLY SHOWS US (The cats who actually giva a damn about their people & culture) that he does NOT… THIS NIGGA GOT A WHITE WHORE PREGNANT… HOW REVOLUTIONARY IS THAT????? SIT THE FUCK DOWN CLOWN.

    22. Another ego trip from this asshole… like Steve jobs? Really and in what way did you help revolutionize the way we live on this planet you attention whore. This mother fucker is insane. “And it wasnt until I hung out with dead prez and understood how to make, you know, raps with a message sound cool that I was able to just write ‘All Falls Down’ in 15 minutes.” ya no shit “first aaliyah now romeo must die”? Are you fucking kidding me with that wack shit… This guys should be applauded foe having such a high opinion of himself even when he does shit that sucks outloud but the fuck he has to keep advertise a greatness that is simply not there is why it is easy to dislike him. Credit where it’s due… he can make beats but he is far from hip hops Jesus!

      1. you a double cock rider, you go off on kanye w/ some personal hate shit like he cornered you at camp or some shit

    23. Henry Ford? Come on Ye. Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile and in turn transportation all around the world. You make beats, wear skirts, and rap about Louis Vuitton. SMH, but I guess it’s no worse than saying he should be in The Bible because a song that he didn’t even write. A clown of the highest order.

      1. Seriously? I revolutionized Hip-hop with every single fucking album..808s is a classic no matter what you think because it changed the game..If it wasn’t for that album nobody would listen to kid cudi…and blueprint 3 would have had the sound it did..EVERY TIME YE’ DROPS A ALBUM IT CHANGES HIPHOP ALBUM STYLES UNTIL HE DROPS ANOTHER ONE.Ye’ is the steve jobs of hiphop like or not..and no im not a fanboy..Thesse are just unbiased facts

      2. @David, those are LIES. He didn’t change the CULTURE, He changed the INDUSTRY. Even downplayed his shit to rock with soft niggas. Gimme a fuckin break, you gotta be an industry dickrider if you think what he has done was so “Visionary”. What Ye did was not revolutionary, he just got white people to dig his shit. SIT THE FUCK DOWN.

      3. ^ I’d argue he changed the radio – the industry already “fusion” artists…

        He was just the first to crossover. Henry FORD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Every Kanye Album. (maybe not Graduation – shit knocks lol)

    24. This guy is a huge fucking joke! Trying to compair his bullshit rants to KRS. and steve jobs reaaly? more like lady ga ga and the ying yang twins you silly looking bitch

    25. steve jobs ? really ?

      Kanye you silly little messed in the head boy.. Dont compare yourself to all time greats

      youre just a deluded little kid who lost his momma then lost his mind…

      go wear a dress again

    26. deze hatin stans are hilarious. objectively this nigga is payin respects, but these deluded ass bum niggas suddenly become fuckin telepathic and pretend to know how dead prez feel about it. Oh yeah, imma listen to deze butthurt jerk-squad niggas over kanye who actually chilled w/ them.

    27. Yeah, he’s trippin’ (even saying he’s like Dead Prez). But U hatin’ ass mufuckaz ain’t done shit even close to what ‘Ye did cuz U too busy hatin’ to do anything worthwhile, bitches.

    28. I fucks with Ye but he is delusional comparing himself to a visionary who changed the world with technology and a group who has always had a political message and substance.Ye needs to sit his ass down and stop putting himself on a pedestal.A real visionary would not wife a smut who has been passed around like a blunt…

    29. Kanye had to sell out at age 25 to get where he is, now he fell off so hard hes TERRIBLE, lost all my respect, on the other hand Game never sold out and shits on anyone out there. realest nigga out

    30. Think he forgot to mention Yeezus is pretty much completly influenced on Death Grips/ Horror Core.. its been around.. Like when he was wearing Polo..Lo life were doing that for years… way to re-invent the wheel.

    31. it’s funny how the only money Kanye makes is from black people and then he goes ahead and buys all his shit from white people and has the nerve to talk about slavery…

      I don’t know who’s stupider, him or his fans? Either way, LOL.

      oh and BTW “I am god” dedicated to Kim kardashian.. This dude is hilarious. He brain damaged himself walking in to that sign

      1. black people simply hate the fact that everything they see and touch the white man made

        lol true though

      2. ^ LOL Exactly.

        And NEWS FLASH – BLACK PEOPLE DON’T BUY RECORDS BRO…. we certainly didn’t buy that 808’s… or pay $100+ to go his shows…. notice how its 99% white kids at the shows??? that was you whitey!! LOL

        Now Ye is fucking wit ya u want to give him back… GTFOH

        You can keep this COON

      3. lol the fuk you talking about? the only white person that liked Gayfish was that bald stripper that ended up saying he fucked like a lazy ape.. Look at his sales, those are black sales, whack sales.

        Em will blow this fool away in terms of sales (and everything) cause whites are gonna buy it..

        Ye is a black idiot that’s a product of white business aimed to exploit young dumb blacks

        “meanwhile you’re on a black invented music genre website”… Yeah that a white dude took over, the only reason why i check this hurting ass low traffic website is for the new Em album

      1. Kanye needs Dr phil on speed dial

        crazy nut

        this new album will be an insight into mental illness

    32. Hold My Liquor” (featuring Chief Keef and Justin Vernon)

      “Guilt Trip” (featuring Kid Cudi)

      “Send It Up” (featuring King L)

    33. This nigga at it again he cant talk a fuckin sentence that makes sense. So its like i am dead prez big passed you know its been done before i am fashion steve made computers i wear animal skin its just you know for me

    34. I think we need to start a petition to kill KimYe.

      That bittch gotta go… WTF is YE DOING!!!

      DEAD PREZ MY FUCKING ASS

    35. HF: I’m going to drive over this crackly coons wigger wife, and oil change my automated head gasket on the whore…

      Reporter: ….

      HF: Fuck him. Dumb kilt wear whore marring mother fucker…

    36. if you dont know kanye is a faggot you are blind to the world.

      what kinda guy wears skirts?

      what kinda guy cries like a bitch when he doesn’t win awards?

      what kinda guy samples daft punk and makes songs about being stronger?

      what kinda guy knocks up a thoughtless reality pig only to hang out with a gay designer in europe while shes pregnant?

      a homosexual. thats who. kanye is with kim because they both needed a shot of life in their careers. business agreement. just like jay and beyonce. true love? try doubling up on a society that worships low life celebrities.

      Bawse!!!!!!!

    37. u try walking in his shoes. don’t cee yo footprints in the sand anywhere. ye has been thru a lot over the years. find peace in ya own lives. he’s just finishing what he started… too “complex” for mos heads… go watch block party or something… internet geeks… u do the history.
      one love, peace

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