Zane Lowe: Grab a seat, grab a seat. So, you remember this place? Graduation? I was also thinking about some of the other things we've done as well with the BBC, like Abbey Road sprung to mind with the strings.
Kanye West: Oh yeah. That was good. That suit was like, I would've worn something different if I could look back right now. I could still do a suit, I just wouldn't have done that exact lapel situation.
ZL: But talk about really putting yourself on the line with that. That was so early on for you to be stepping in a room with that many players and to give yourself that objective. What are your thoughts when you think back about Abbey Road, where...it's just nuts.
KW: I thought it was good. I thought it was what I was supposed to do at that time. If I see something, if I see an opportunity, I'm gonna go for it. We're all gonna die one day.
ZL: Yeah, that's true.
KW: So live like that. Live like you could die tomorrow. Go for it. Those steps have been the platforms that allowed me to make it this far.
ZL: And you have, man, and you're here. Six original albums of your own, a Throne record, various records with G.O.O.D. Music to talk about. But seriously, man, Yeezus. Bravo, dude. I mean, that is one of the most creative records of any genre I've heard in a very, very long time, and just in terms of your output, your most exciting-sounding record, I think.
KW: Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, I feel I was able to start making exactly what was in my mind again, not having to speak with the textures of the time. Cause, you know, Cruel Summer is definitely Kanye West, and there's something weird and kind of off about "Mercy," like when it has the high-pitched (impersonates noise), that type of sound. It sounds like art still a little bit, even though it obviously was a radio smash.
But when I get into the idea, the trap drums and things like that, certain songs that are blatant radio hits, it's like I'm speaking with today's textures. If you look at it 200 years from now, it's not going to stand out in the way that 808s or Yeezus stands out, and can completely push or redefine or make people say, hey, I completely hate that, or I completely love that, but let me just think differently. Because everybody is bound to these -- no pun intended -- they're bound to sixteen bars or eight bars, and the normal radio thing.
I was talking to Frank Ocean about this, and said, my mom got arrested for the sit-ins, and now we're more like the sit-outs. Like, sit off of radio, and say, hey radio, come to us. We need to find something new, because it's being controlled in a way, and manufactured in a way, that really awesome artists can make amazing music and not break as far past as, like, something that's very formulaic.
ZL: So it almost feels like a duty to you in a weird way? Having the peoples' ear, having peoples' attention for great music, to be able to say, well, if I'm not challenging them enough, I'm not challenging myself, not challenging radio, what am I doing?
KW: Yeah. I'm not trying to regurgitate myself. I showed people that I understand how to make perfect. Dark Fantasy could be considered to be perfect. I know how to make perfect. But that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to crack the pavement and make new grounds, sonically and society, culturally.
ZL: You've done that with Yeezus. It's fascinating for us to sit here and talk about this record now, because normally when I talk to artists about records of this nature, it's in the lead-up to something. So we're all kind of playing a guessing game, you know what I mean? You could tell me what you think of the record, but I'm trying to find my way around it, the audience probably won't have heard it. In this case, it's been out for a minute, so we can reflect on it with the benefit of hindsight, too. You've seen what everyone else has had to say about this record, both good and bad. But I'm fascinated to know, today, how you would describe Yeezus, as someone who made it. How you would describe that record.
Kanye West: Oh yeah. That was good. That suit was like, I would've worn something different if I could look back right now. I could still do a suit, I just wouldn't have done that exact lapel situation.
ZL: But talk about really putting yourself on the line with that. That was so early on for you to be stepping in a room with that many players and to give yourself that objective. What are your thoughts when you think back about Abbey Road, where...it's just nuts.
KW: I thought it was good. I thought it was what I was supposed to do at that time. If I see something, if I see an opportunity, I'm gonna go for it. We're all gonna die one day.
ZL: Yeah, that's true.
KW: So live like that. Live like you could die tomorrow. Go for it. Those steps have been the platforms that allowed me to make it this far.
ZL: And you have, man, and you're here. Six original albums of your own, a Throne record, various records with G.O.O.D. Music to talk about. But seriously, man, Yeezus. Bravo, dude. I mean, that is one of the most creative records of any genre I've heard in a very, very long time, and just in terms of your output, your most exciting-sounding record, I think.
KW: Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, I feel I was able to start making exactly what was in my mind again, not having to speak with the textures of the time. Cause, you know, Cruel Summer is definitely Kanye West, and there's something weird and kind of off about "Mercy," like when it has the high-pitched (impersonates noise), that type of sound. It sounds like art still a little bit, even though it obviously was a radio smash.
But when I get into the idea, the trap drums and things like that, certain songs that are blatant radio hits, it's like I'm speaking with today's textures. If you look at it 200 years from now, it's not going to stand out in the way that 808s or Yeezus stands out, and can completely push or redefine or make people say, hey, I completely hate that, or I completely love that, but let me just think differently. Because everybody is bound to these -- no pun intended -- they're bound to sixteen bars or eight bars, and the normal radio thing.
I was talking to Frank Ocean about this, and said, my mom got arrested for the sit-ins, and now we're more like the sit-outs. Like, sit off of radio, and say, hey radio, come to us. We need to find something new, because it's being controlled in a way, and manufactured in a way, that really awesome artists can make amazing music and not break as far past as, like, something that's very formulaic.
ZL: So it almost feels like a duty to you in a weird way? Having the peoples' ear, having peoples' attention for great music, to be able to say, well, if I'm not challenging them enough, I'm not challenging myself, not challenging radio, what am I doing?
KW: Yeah. I'm not trying to regurgitate myself. I showed people that I understand how to make perfect. Dark Fantasy could be considered to be perfect. I know how to make perfect. But that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to crack the pavement and make new grounds, sonically and society, culturally.
ZL: You've done that with Yeezus. It's fascinating for us to sit here and talk about this record now, because normally when I talk to artists about records of this nature, it's in the lead-up to something. So we're all kind of playing a guessing game, you know what I mean? You could tell me what you think of the record, but I'm trying to find my way around it, the audience probably won't have heard it. In this case, it's been out for a minute, so we can reflect on it with the benefit of hindsight, too. You've seen what everyone else has had to say about this record, both good and bad. But I'm fascinated to know, today, how you would describe Yeezus, as someone who made it. How you would describe that record.
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