10 Standout Quotes From Kanye West's Surface Interview
Supporters of Kanye West have been divided this past week after his endorsement of president-elect Donald Trump and cutting his tour short. But his interviews can still produce gems, depending on the mood and space he's in.
Instead of interviewing Kanye Tudda about the usual topics like his marriage or his spats with other celebrities, Surface magazine used their time with the multitalented producer to talk about art—its power, potential and its relationship with Kanye's life and upbringing. Race and politics follow. Kanye gets comfortable and gives one of his more interesting, tempered interviews in recent memory — a welcomed change of pace after two concert rants last week and a canceled show in Los Angeles on Sunday.
From thoughtful to funny to tweetable, here are 10 of our favorite quotes from the interview.
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1. "I hate when someone comes and works with me for a couple weeks or two months, and then they try to tell people they’ve worked with Kanye West. You haven’t worked with Kanye West unless you’ve had to redo a project 100 times, or had to word something in a specific, perfect way, to communicate it in the exact."
2. "I don’t think people are going to talk in the future. They’re going to communicate through eye contact, body language, emojis, signs. Imagine that. If everyone was forced to learn sign language."
3. "I refuse to negotiate. I do not negotiate. I can collaborate. But I’m an artist, so as soon as you negotiate, you’re being compromised."
4. "There is currently a lack of people in power who are motivated by the idea of helping people, but thanks to the internet, there are people who would never have made it through a corporate system who are able to jump into positions of power in their twenties. They can collectively work on ideas for the new world."
5. "More people need to know that they’re not fucking cool. In today’s world, having money has allowed people who are extremely uncool to think that they’re cool and carry it like that. People who really are cool and people who really are artists and have ideas have to literally turn in their cool card to society just to make it past the age of 28. It’s either die at 28 or turn in your cool pass."
6. "Some people say everyone was born an artist, and society and their parents beat it out of them. After I said I was going to run for president [at the 2015 MTV VMAs], I saw a video of someone making fun of me about it. I was thinking, Wow, if this person had been doing this to me from the age of 3, I would have never been me."
7. "This is turning into a 12-minute freestyle. Which is good. When I talk it’s like a painting."
8. "For some reason, I just wanna say “Wiz [Khalifa] wears cool pants” right now. He really does. He dresses really good."
9. "...10 years from now to be black is going to be a completely different thing, because of what we’re doing now."
10. "I believe in always empowering people. I don’t want to give you anything as definitive as “always do this.” It’s about finding a balance between being the person who knows the most and the person who’s the most naïve."
You can read or watch the rest of the Surface interview by clicking here.
