Often targeted by media and known for his outspoken ways, Kanye West's message has been fairly misunderstood. But that is partly because of the way he communicated his struggle. Nonetheless, Kanye's story is simple.
“You win or you learn.” His recent media interviews and appearances have kept social media buzzing with noise, appreciation, banter and lately surprise.
The ‘new Kanye' is perceived to be less angry, more sensitive (he broke down during his BBC1 Radio interview), humble (referring to himself as a public ‘servant') and media-friendly. And although he possesses the aforementioned qualities, he thinks before he speaks and now takes time to articulate his thoughts to help the general public understand better. But till date, Kanye remains to be an artist, an A-list celebrity who is relatable and luckily for editors, very quotable. He is finally able to showcase that relatable quotient after his recent achievements- which he fought for years in the past. After being shut down by the biggest names in the fashion and entertainment industry, which he's publicised on stage and on his lyrics, he recently launched Yeezy Boost with Adidas at New York Fashion Week. And who made the front row? Anna Wintour, Beyonce, Rihanna and Diddy were among the few front-row celebrity royalty.
During his interview with Zane Lowe, Kanye ensures again and again to deliver his message in the best way possible. When he said: “The world can only be saved by design,” he paused and continued “I know some snarky classist editor will take that as Kanye West said ‘the world will be saved by a couture dress.' (But) It's the mentality behind it. Art is to be free. Design is to fix.”
While talking about his former fashion design teacher, Louise Wilson, who died last year, Kanye burst into tears, the first time during an interview. West took to Twitter to first issue a public apology to Beck following an incident at this year's Grammy Awards where he said Beyonce should have won the award for the best album instead. During his interview to BBC1 Kanye said he later heard Beck's music during lunch with Taylor Swift at a restaurant and thought it was great. “But I think everybody has the right to an opinion, everybody has a right to be wrong… I expressed my opinion and I take the weight of it,” he added. Kanye also apologized to Bruno Mars on Twitter and offered collaboration. “I used to hate on him but I really respect what he does as an artist,” he tweeted.
Here are a few memorable Yeezy lines:
“Nothing should be exclusive. Everyone should have the opportunity to drink from the same fountain.”
“I didn't come here to be liked; I came here to make a difference.” “The class system is the new racism.”
“Class is the new way to discriminate against people. To hold people down. To hold people in their place based on where their kids go to school, how much money they make.”
“I tweeted black lives matter, but all lives matter. My doorman is more important to me than the head of any company.”
“Innovation gets too much credit. ... As Steve Jobs told me riding down the West Side Highway one day, there's no money in innovation. The money is in repetition.”
“Everything that I ever said will happen, will happen.”
“The whole cadence [of ‘Only One'] is trap. As soon as Paul starts playing, I start singing -- in trap.”
On Drake: “Let's be respectful and truthful: the hottest rapper in the game.”
“I'm super hypercritical -- I'm a human being.”
“Everyone I meet I'm extremely nice [to]. But as soon as people start playing games, I stop [being nice]. At any moment I can hit that Ye button and we can go right back to day one.”
“Fusion is the future, period. The mixing of ideas, the two lunch tables working together. Humanity, period. We're one people.”
