Some people believe that Kanye West is a madman. Some people believe he’s a genius. I sort of believe he’s both. He’s both crazy and brilliant, defiantly eccentric, and possibly/probably chemically imbalanced. Kanye goes Full Kanye in a new W Magazine cover story for their October issue (which features multiple covers). The funniest part is that after basically ranting about Wreck-It Ralph, Elf and the fashion industry for four pages, W Magazine included this line at the end: “This is an excerpt from a longer interview and it was edited and condensed for clarity.” Hahaha!!! The poor bastard who had to transcribe this mess… we need to buy that person a drink. You can read Peak Kanye here, and here are some highlights:
When he first started caring about fashion: “I just liked picking out my own outfit for kindergarten. Now my daughter definitely picks out her own outfits and she will lay it down and look at it and say, ‘This is not great.’ And then she tries to tell me what to wear and what she likes out of the closet, like just my mom being in a fur store and me picking one and saying, ‘I like this one mom,’ and her looking at the price and it being the most expensive one. So, I think that’s where I got the expensive taste from.”
His debt: “This year I literally tweeted after doing a fashion show, ‘Hey, I’m $53 million in debt and people say, ‘I can’t understand that. That sounds like MC Hammer where we don’t relate to that.’ It’s not for you to relate to that…the people who know what the f–k I’m talking about know what the f–k I’m talking about. So I refuse people who write me off as some rich kid taking a hobby, fashion as a f–king hobby or a fashion plate. How could you even dare to think that, that you’re on the same level of this, blah, blah, blah?”
Art & education: “And the entire time, no one, um – very few people even knew that I have a f–king Ph.D. in art, you know? And not that that would even make the difference, but me saying that makes the difference to the exact people I’m talking to it’s, like, shut the f–k up. I will f–king laser you with alien f–king eyes and explode your f–king head. Shut the f–k up – try to write a rap. Okay then. I made this f–king T-shirt, now shut up. And it cost me everything I had and I gave everything I had.
He’s like the elf in Elf: “No, I’m the elf that’s Will Ferrell, that’s too big for his hands to make the toys…But he wants to make the toys. Why? Not just so he could play with them, but he wants to bring joy to the world. I am a creator and it’s my responsibility. There is no amount of money, like as I tell my managers right now, ‘What is your opinion of success?’ So many people look at success is just like having money. True, not having money can be a sign of a lack of success and also can deter you from being successful at other things that you do, but if you take guys like LVMH and like Kering, they might only have two or three businesses that are actually profitable and they all work together, but they are successful at taking brands that mean something to people.”
To the W reporter saying she’s on his side: “Um, no. I wouldn’t say that you’re on my side. I wouldn’t say that anyone in fashion is on my side. I don’t think there’s anyone on my side…I’m not saying I like that. I’m saying that to this date they do not understand who I am. They will not understand until after I’m gone. I am misunderstood and there is no one in fashion that’s on my side. Because if that’s the case, then take me and say, ‘Here’s your 80 people that work for you and here’s a straight up, honest deal for it.’ You don’t have to sign your soul away in order to. I don’t feel like…”
The last part of the interview is just one page, a solid block of text as Kanye rants about his influences and how everyone is against him and he’s a Renaissance Person much like Michaelangelo only no one will let him paint the angels. While I followed much of the rant, and I understood how Kanye organically jumped from point to point, from thought to thought, the last half of the piece got sort of messy and unhinged. The truth is, only Kanye know what Kanye means. Only Kanye can think Kanye-thoughts, #NoDisrespectToBenAffleck. That’s what I got out of this: everyone is against Kanye. Kanye is aggrieved. But maybe Kanye martyring himself for the cause of fashion is what he needs for inspiration.
Photos courtesy of W Magazine.
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