Following a busy few weeks that included performing twice at the Grammys, hosting his New York Fashion Week show for the Kanye x adidas line, debuting a new song, making a surprise cameo at Drake's concert and topping it all off with a three-song medley for Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary special, Kanye West stopped by The Breakfast Club this morning to clear up pretty much any question you might have. He spoke on the Beck Grammy drama, sneaker culture, his wife Kim Kardashian, moving culture, getting rid of classism, Amber Rose's recent comments, Tyga's relationship with Kylie Jenner, why he keeps sticking up for Beyoncé, why OG's and young bloods need to work together, his situation with Dame Dash, a potential joint album with Drake, what to expect on his next album and much more. Here's some of what he had to say.
On his use of Auto-tune:
"I don't like Auto-tune either, but I need it. I can like bend my voice in other ways. Like at the end of 'Runaway' and everything, I like to do that."
On the Beck Grammy drama and why he chose to say something:
"The other day I went to dinner, sat down with Taylor Swift, right, and ironically they were like playing the Beck album. Maybe they did it on purpose so I could finally hear it but I was like man, this is like, kinda good. I ain't gon' lie. I hadn't even heard it, man. You know what, I bet you that album is really good. I'm going to listen to that album and maybe it was potentially an album of the year.
"But the Grammys still have a commercial component to it, and they want to sell commercials. So they have these big super stars sitting in the audience and advertising 'coming up next performing' that's why they try to do to get those views. You don't have these people sitting here then having they hearts beating and stuff. We work too hard to deal with all of that. We ain't got no time to be losing in a situation... because who's winning? We ain't getting that advertising money. You know, don't play with us. That's what my main point is.
"It's going to be a while [before things change]. I don't have the answers of how to change the voting system. I ain't got the answers to how to make it where everyone is honored in the proper way. Sometimes maybe it's two people that should win. Who's to say who should win.
"I think it be a class thing too. It carries more weight if you win a Grammy than if you win a BET award. So we still go. This is why I respect [The Breakfast Club] because this is a voice of society. I say the barber shops, but this is the voice of the streets. And Grammys is a statement of classism."
On whether he contacted Beck to apologize:
"Yes I got his number and I was supposed to call but I just keep forgetting. [But] I felt good for him. The person that won the most was Beck because if I hadn't done that, his album of the year would've never been mentioned. Now it's in all the chatter. Kanye West messes up again. Kanye West is the donkey of the day. I'm already the enemy so you can't get no worse than the villain. He should win an award for what he did -- Rock Album or something like that, but he shouldn't have won that award in my opinion. But who am I to have an opinion?"
On why he is always sticking up for Beyoncé:
"It's really ironic that every time it's Beyoncé for some reason. Why aren't I going off on someone who's going off on my wife on Twitter? I think Beyoncé is a great representation of an artist working hard and trying her best getting the results from it. In America, we have to respect greatness when we see it and not smack it in the face at the cost of some votes splitting. If you see something that's great, you gotta respect it.
"I remember I was trying to get on the basketball team in eighth grade -- hit every free throw, hit every layup, and I looked on the list and I wasn't on the list. And the coach just gave me the Kanye shrug. But you can't have somebody hit all the shots and not give them that credit.
"You say Beyoncé don't need no help. People look at Beyoncé because she's rich, (respect to Hov) she's a beautiful woman, she's talented, and they figure she's got everything, so you don't even need nothin' else. But I think she needs the proper accolades because she's an inspiration. I don't think she's ever won an Album of the Year Grammy.
"And this is funny because Taylor [Smith] was talking to me about this. She was saying that when she was the victim she won every award, and now that she's powerful and the biggest selling artist, now she not winning awards anymore because they're like, what do you need?"
On Amber Rose talking badly about his wife:
"She's just soaking in the moment. Nobody feel compelled to do nothing. If Kim would've dated me when I first wanted to be with her, there would never have been an Amber Rose. I had to take 30 showers before I got with Kim."
On whether the Kardashian brand has hurt the Kanye West brand:
"It's helped it because it just showed like my ability to bridge the gap. I showed people the power of what happens when you work together. Now Kim can sell a dress faster than any magazine cover."
Why does Jay Z get the credit when Dame Dash actually discovered him:
"I mentioned Dame a lot in raps, but the story is not done. It was the moment when Roc-A-Fella split and it made more sense for me career wise to roll with Jay even though Dame had supported me. But then I wonder, I say where would I be if I had rolled with Dame? Would I have been more successful? Would I have been less successful? I can't say. But at that time, you know I came to Roc-A-Fella because Jay Z was my idol, and it would've been very hard for me at that young state where I was to separate from my idol. And that's the decision I made at the time. Do I say there was some disloyalty in that? Yeah I own up to that.
"Is there anything that Dame and I could do together now to make money? I think so. We're going to work on films. I really like the films that he's doing. Dame is like the original person that understood culture and really was in it in every situation. You gotta definitely say that Dame is a real n***a. So when he came over to the crib, and I just saw him and I missed him. I missed the good, I missed the bad, I missed all of that because all of that is what created College Drop Out that tension all of that is what created Late Registration. And we're creating something new now in the fashion world and in the film world."
On Tyga's relationship with Kylie Jenner:
"I think he got in early. I think he was smart. They closer in age than a lot of relationships I know. I knew Tyga was smart, you know."
On what to expect on the new album:
"Bars, songs, yo cook out music that just feels good. My last album was protesting music. I was like Imma take my ball and go home. That album didn't have any music. But this album is about embracing the music. Embracing joy and being of service to the people. I just hope that people like it and enjoy it."
On why he wasn't vocal about the Mike Brown/Eric Garner situation:
"My dad emailed me and said stay out of it. And my dad is like a thousand times smarter than me and a thousand times more social than me. He liked literally lived at a homeless shelter. He emailed me and told me to stay out of it. And that's my only parent so have listen to him sometimes. I think he was just trying to be protective of his son.
"I can't run in front of every bullet. I'm always going to talk about what's going on [in my music] it's definitely going to be in [the album]. [The album is] 80 percent finished. I'm trying to get it finished. I'm trying to get it to the people as soon as possible. Release dates is played out. So surprise is that it's going to be a surprise."
On whether Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian have a problem with each other:
"Naw, they love each other. They respect each other. When Beyoncé was working on her album she had like pictures of Kim on the wall because represents powerful women. Kim will be playing "7/11," playing that video, playing it for our daughter. They definitely respect each other, but maybe there's a LeBron James/Kobe element to it."
On the inspiration behind "Wolves":
"The 'Wolves' song came from a conversation that me and Drake had where we was going to do an album together and the album was called Wolves."
Check out the rest of the interview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section!
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