Over the course of two days earlier this month, the New York Times‘ Jon Caramanica interviewed Kanye West at his Wyoming hide-away. The rural location is where Ye created songs for his latest album and the albums of several other artists such as Pusha T, Teyana Taylor, and Nas.
The interview is like most Kanye interviews have been over the years–vulnerable, transparent, and unapologetic. Caramanica astutely describes Kanye’s public self: “He is in a constant state of self-revision. More than any other famous person of his stature, he shares his rough drafts.”
In this draft of himself, Kanye shares many previously un-known bits and explains some of his recent public appearances. Here are 10 notable quotes from Ye’s NYT interview:
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1. Getting His Voice Back
“I believe that I’m actually a better father because I got my [expletive] voice back, I’m a better artist because I got my voice back. I was living inside of some universe that was created by the mob-thought, and I had lost who I was, so that’s when I was in the sunken place. You look in my eyes right now — you see no sunken place.”
2. Keeping it Simple in Politics
“Having a political opinion that’s overly informed, it’s like knowing how to dress, as opposed to being a child — “I like this.” I hear Trump talk and I’m like, I like the way it sounds, knowing that there’s people who like me that don’t like the way it sounds.”
3. The Value of Irresponsibility
“We need to be able to be in situations where you can be irresponsible. That’s one of the great privileges of an artist. An artist should be irresponsible in a way — a 3-year-old.”
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4. That ‘Slave’ Comment on TMZ
“I said the idea of sitting in something for 400 years sounds — sounds — like a choice to me, I never said it’s a choice. I never said slavery itself — like being shackled in chains — was a choice. That’s why I went from slave to 400 years to mental prison to this and that. If you look at the clip you see the way my mind works.”
5. Nat Turner Comparison
“I think that my personality and energy mirrors Nat Turner, or it had in the past, but that showed me that also that Nat Turner approach would land me in the same place Nat Turner landed, and that I would be legendary but also just a martyr. But I guess we’re all martyrs eventually, and we’re all guaranteed to die.”
6. Unprotected by the Tribe
“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.”
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7. On Whether the Black Community Will Ever Abandon Him
“It’s not going to happen. Like I said, wouldn’t leave. Like yes, got a bunch of different opinions. You’re not always going to agree, but they’re not going to leave.”
8. Losing the #1 Crown
Losing “ruler,” “king,” “crown.” And it was this thing where it’s like O.K., you’re not the No. 1 rapper, Drake’s the No. 1 rapper, but you’re the No. 1 with shoes, or this or that. And it’s like yo, no more No. 1s. What’s the No. 1 tree over there? Just be one of them. All of them are beautiful. If you cut one of those trees down, what would it be worth? Those look like $400,000 trees, just one of them, and look at how many of them are.
9. Suicidal Thoughts
“Oh yeah, I’ve thought about killing myself all the time. 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.”
10. The Possibility of Kim Kardashian Leaving the Marriage
“There was a moment where I felt like after TMZ, maybe a week after that, I felt like the energy levels were low, and I called different family members and was asking, you know, ‘Was Kim thinking about leaving me after TMZ?’ So that was a real conversation.”