Kanye West addressed his support for Donald Trump, his comments on slavery, having bipolar disorder and much more in an interview with The New York Times.
The piece, which was published on Monday (June 25), dug deep into West’s rationale behind some of his controversial positions. When asked about the “slavery sounds like a choice” comment, the G.O.O.D. Music founder tried to clarify his intent.
“I said the idea of sitting in something for 400 years sounds — sounds — like a choice to me,” he said. “I never said it’s a choice. I never said slavery itself — like being shackled in chains — was a choice.”
West also explained why his wording would be different now if he got a chance to do it over again.
“I wouldn’t frame a one-liner or a headline,” he explained. “What I would say is actually it’s literally like I feel like I’m in court having to justify a robbery that I didn’t actually commit, where I’m having to somehow reframe something that I never said. I feel stupid to have to say out loud that I know that being put on the boat was — but also I’m not backing down, bro. What I will do is I’ll take responsibility for the fact that I allowed my voice to be used back to back in ways that were not protective of it when my voice means too much.”
When questioned about what he meant by “back to back,” Yeezy responded, “Wearing the [Trump] hat, because my voice is unprotected, and I believe that the black community wants to protect my voice. By me saying slave in any way at TMZ left my voice unprotected. So it’s not a matter of the facts of if I said that exact line or not, it’s the fact that I put myself in a position to be unprotected by my tribe.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, West addressed “I Thought About Killing You” from the ye album and his struggles with his mental health.
“Oh yeah, I’ve thought about killing myself all the time,” he noted. “It’s always a option and [expletive]. Like Louis C.K. said: I flip through the manual. I weigh all the options. I’m just having this epiphany now, ’cause I didn’t do it, but I did think it all the way through. But if I didn’t think it all the way through, then it’s actually maybe more of a chance of it happening.”
West also opened up about his collaborative writing process, revealing he put together notes about his feelings and experiences for his writers. The group of writers included CyHi The Prince, Malik Yusef, Consequence and Cardi B writer Pardison Fontaine.
“It’s incredible how we just sit there and just think and rethink and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite,” he said of his time in the studio. “We’re not pulling off a magic trick here. We’re like Tesla, we’re not The Prestige.”
Read the full interview here.
[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
Blacks acting ignorant and ghetto then always complaining is a choice.
If you think that’s all blacks do, then it’s your choice . Your parents raising you a racist , wasn’t your choice
It’s bad enough that this cry baby fool complains about not being best producer or musical genius despite having others doing the music for him now he’s revealing he got writers. This weak ass bitch better not be complaining about his new records not getting recognition of his self called genius when there’s plenty of individuals making his music. FUCK CRAKKKERS
He’s said that he’s had writers since he started. Remember he was a producer 1st and transitioned into a rapper. He wasn’t a fraud like Mr. Blackface.
People would rather be outraged, than understand he was talking about people’s shitty mentality. This only shows how shitty their mentality is.
Ok. I’m upset because a bipolar says I have a shitty mentality. I can’t sleep tonight.
Id like to point out this the poster claiming to be “Pot calling the kettle black” above is not the original. I am the original and fear nothing! I am flattered you would steal my name from the legacy I have clearly paved here in my fearless commenting. Please continue with your unabated fearless comments only with your own name. Please feel free to join the Truth Army as we do our best to bring TRUTH and real AWARENESS to phonies like DX and their comment section
I’m gay
??
GOAT
Wait so Cardi B has a writer? I’m shocked.
it’s the fact that I put myself in a position to be unprotected by my tribe.”
You damn right!!!!
the albums are out now. we don’t care
Kanye: “Why should we hold ourselves back?” Brainwashed Public: “You are crazy for your out of line comments ye!” crazy world
Spoken like a true trump tard…say something moronic and then deny you ever said it and insist like everybody else is the problem for “misunderstanding”
When I first heard the comment or the way it was phrased “Slavery was a choice” my initial reaction was to be pissed but he is right and there were others (Nat Turner, Sojourner Truth , Harriet Tubman to name a few) who agreed with that sentiment and thats why they revolted and fought back, just imagine if all the slaves did the same thing and realized their strength in numbers. Fast forward to the year 2018 and people are still slaves mentally and they act as if they don’t have a choice, they walk around and do as they are told, believe what they see on TV . If you don’t agree with the man or are outraged thats your choice just take a second and free your mind and think of it in its full context
as kanye said, people are just reading the headlines and not the fine print. Although he has a hard time conveying his thoughts, much of what he has to say is at the very least thought provoking. the system (whether purposefully or not) does not work in favor of minorities. by taking welfare or relying on the govt people are feeding into the system and rely on the govt. the idea that you need to rely on the govt to live is “mental slavery.” the idea that if you’re black you need to vote democrat is “mental slavery.” Kanye never said you have to agree with him, he just wants you to consider and actually THINK about what he is trying to say. and when it comes to trump, kanye was just trying to get people to approach the polarized partisan political system differently. today people are constantly hating on trump and being disrespectful to him. kanyes approach was “we tried doing hate and it didn’t work, why don’t we try love.” if you want trump to listen to you and your cause you need to approach him from a point of understanding and love, not disrespect. it kills me when i see people on twitter shitting on Ivanka, who is a democrat!! she is the dems best opportunity to convince trump to adopt more liberal policies and instead they disrespect her. *kanye shrug*
The math would be way off to for the 400 years of slavery to be true.
I don’t care what anyone says about Kanye’s alleged legacy in hip-hop. This dude is overrated as fuck. I’ve never considered The College Dropout to be a classic. It’s a good album but not a classic. And as a producer he ripped off some of the greatest samples in soul and rnb music and took all the credit for it. The most relevant example is what he did on the Touch The Sky track where he ripped off Curtis Mayfield sample and took all the credit for it. GTFOH ! Some of the greatest producers in hip-hop like Pete Rock told the truth bout him but nobody is listening. Now this mothafucka is affiliated to the kardashian family and let these bitches step in the hip-hop culture to the point where every hip-hop artist is endorsing this fucked up and dysfonctional family. I really hope this circus would end in a near future. All this shit turned into a mothafuckin joke. I’m glad jay-z took a distance from kanye. All his rants bout how great he is and how unique he pretends to be are just embarassing. He is so disconnected to what the black culture is and what the minorities are going through in America that it becomes embarassing to watch. My only thought of him is : fuck off and leave the world alone. We’re doing good without you !
Touch The Sky was produced by Just Blaze.
if you kill yourself you won’t have to deal with any of his shit anymore… just an idea
I don’t take anything Kanye says off the mic booth seriously!
Just stop talking!!!
Don’t take anything Kanye says off music seriously