Kanye West
Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
Tiffany Holmes:
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Good evening SAIC! [Cheering] How’s everyone feeling tonight,
are we excited? [Cheering] Wow. So my names Tiffany Holmes,
I am the dean of undergraduate studies and I am here just to tell
you a few ground rules for the event tonight.
We are asking everybody to silence your phones, please, at this
time. And we are also asking you to please refrain from flash
photography. Any other form of photography or electronic
communication is fine, just no flash photography please. Please
keep our aisles clear and if you’re lucky enough to have a seat
please stay in it. Thank you very much.
It’s my great honor tonight to present to you Kanye West, but
first… [cheering]…I want to introduce our wonderful president,
Dr. Walter Massey. [Cheering] Dr. Massey is going to come to
the stage and introduce our very exciting de – guest this evening.
Thank you, Dr. Massey. [Applause]
Dr. Walter Massey:
Well, I should retire now. [Laughter] Won’t get any better. So I
want just to begin by quoting from the Chicago Tribune which I
hope many of you saw which just this past week described our
guest as, and I quote, “the most important, influential, cultural
voice to emerge from Chicago in a generation.” And that’s the
Tribune. And this – and that’s – that’s accurate.
Kanye’s voice – and what a voice it is and you will be hearing it
live in a minute. It’s bold, expressive, complex, innovative and I
think he’s been called, truly – and he is a visionary. And his voice
is unmistakably his own. You recognize it immediately.
But I’m also interested in how it, his voice, comes out of a long
and storied um, view and vision and history of Chicago sounds.
Much like Kanye, and Kanye was born in Atlanta, many of these
sounds originated in the South, but then found their way North
with the great migration. And during that time they took on the air
of their newfound home, those ta – those uh, songs and images and
voices became melded into Chicago, and they were transformed
into something entirely new.
A few of the names, and many of you ou – under a certain age may
not even recognize them, but you should know them. Louis
Armstrong and his jazz. Nat King Cole. Gene Ammons from right
here in Chicago and Ahmad Jamal, another Chicagoan. Chicago
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Kanye West
Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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blues of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, b – Buddy Guy and Bo
Diddley. The Chicago style gospel of Mahalia Jackson and the
Staples Sisters. And the Afro futurism of Sun Ra and the Chicago
soul of Curtis Mayfield.
Twentieth century music would never be so rich without many of
these diverse Chicago voices. And this is a legacy that Kanye
West, who was always a Chicagoan at heart, is carrying into the
21st century. But through his profoundly original music. But he’s
also carrying this vision and these voices and images forward in
his interdisciplinary work in film, fashion design and all of his
many other pursuits.
So we are very proud to welcome Kanye West back home on this
Mother’s Day weekend and it is Mother’s Day. And we are so
honored that he’s agreed to allow us to honor him tomorrow. We
are honored that he’s bringing with – to us his wide ranging
creative spirit and powerful voice that we celebrate much as we
celebrate those same kind of images, voices, and views here at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
So please uh, welcome Kanye West as the Tribune said in this
editorial, welcome back to Chicago, Kanye. [Cheers and
applause]
Kanye West:
Thank you guys so much. It’s moments like this that make the
fight so worth it. To know that, you know… [Laughter] There’s
people who appreciate how hard it is to be an artist in an
industrialized commercial world. [Cheers and applause]
So I’d like to start with a question so I can feel an idea, energy or
a vibe of something you’d like to know and then I’ll riff off that.
As opposed to preparing anything. [Laughter]
Tiffany Holmes:
Sounds good, we’re ready for you. Leshovo, you are up.
Leshovo:
Thank you. Um, all right, so the question. Um, how do you
navigate, how do you uh, avoid being stereotyped for – as a hiphop artist when you’re navigating all these forms that you’re
working in?
Kanye West:
Well, metaphorically to be stereotyped as a hip-hop artist can be
very much a hood that can put you in positions where people
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Kanye West
Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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wouldn’t expect you to be. And – and the same way how when
you step into places and they have a “you’re not from here” type
vibe. If you are from there and you’re too accredited a lot of times
people will put their guards up and be less willing to work with
you. And a lot of times I’ve been able to work with the most
amazing people on the planet because I was considered not to be a
threat to what they do. Because I was considered to be a hip-hop
artist.
So it allowed me to work with uh, Murakami or Kondo or
Riccardo Tisci or you know, Spike Jonze or Spike Lee or all these
different fields that – that so called box allowed there to be a level
of uh, you know, uh, like a marriage or something. Like people
like working with people that are married because [laughter]
obviously there’s some – these – these people are willing to con –
be controlled and compromise. So. [Laughter and applause]
Actually I – I used that – that little box and that stereotype to my
advantage to be able to just kind of put my hoodie on and
collaborate as much as possible.
Leshovo:
Thanks.
Tiffany Holmes:
Atoonu, are you ready? I’m coming back.
Atoonu:
Being in the music industry did you ever feel like you had to dumb
yourself down or make yourself pal – make yourself palatable for
like, a certain audience? And then was there any time that you
actively decided not to do this?
Kanye West:
Yeah, I think that it always – people know the times where I
actively decided not to do it because it breaks the internet every
time. [Laughter] But I think the idea of dumbing down, each one
of the things that you guys are gonna say I look at there’s a
positive and uh, there’s a negative that you think of as an artist, but
there’s a positive to it, too, because it’s the ability to accomplish
more and the ability to step back from that immediate battle to win
an overall war and to understand how long the war really is. And
understanding exactly how much to push on your concept and how
much information to put in there is uh, how much to concede,
when to fight.
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Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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You know, I remember on Gold Digger I had this line that said
“when you get on, he leave your ass for a white girl”. And
[laughs] there was a – there was a radio guy who wouldn’t play it
because he was in an interracial uh, relationship. He had a white
wife, he was a black uh, disc jock so it uh – it – it directly
connected to something that he dealt with issues with his entire,
you know, marriage and relationship so he didn’t wanna play that.
I remember there was video footage of me getting really upset and
uh, fighting for that to be played. And you get like, one of those
Kanye West outbursts, but I was fighting [laughter] at that time
for the idea of the art not being compromised. Like I didn’t curse
so what’s so wrong with this concept? It seemed like there were so
many – there’s like – whether I was using imagery of the Klan on
MTV and I would say, “Okay, wait a second. So we can play this
many G-strings, right? But if we play an image of the Klan that’s”
– and what it came down to is oh, this is bad for business, this is
bad for advertising or it’s making people think too much. Or it’s
uh, bringing a truth to people’s attention that we don’t want to –
we don’t feel like right now.
And I think there’s something about you know, there’s different
kind of drugs. If anyone’s been on vacation and taken drugs
before uh, [laughter] I’m in an art school so I’m just gonna
assume that [laughter] this has happened. [Laughter] But there’s
drugs that make you tell the truth, there’s drugs that make you
happy, there’s drugs that make you sad, there’s drug – there’s
different types of uh, moods it can put you in. And – and music is
like a drug.
Uh, you know, people go on vacation they say, “Did you bring
the,” I won’t say the – I won’t say the “D” word, but [whispers]
“Did you bring the drugs?” And did you [laughter] and they’ll
say also, “Did you bring the music?” These things go together.
“Did you bring the alcohol?”
You know, it was so – the interesting balance of making enjoyable
music that also had truthful information in it it was – it was like
always a very, very fine line. A fine line of when to break the high
in a way. Because there’s a lot of, you know, like uh, dance music,
like four-on-the-floor? It seems like it’s trying to just be strictly
the high and never break it. Never give any type of extra
information, just strictly be the smoothest drug possible.
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Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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And with backpack rap it was always like this uh, responsibility
that we felt to you know, our – our parents, our ancestors and to
our generation at that time to use our platform of the drum to
educate with it. And we – we took it as a – a responsibility more
than the responsibility of like, personal wealth. And I think that
was the beginning, first notes of any Steve Jobs comparison.
Before I even knew to be – to have the audacity to compare myself
to Steve Jobs. [Laughter]
There was a – that – that idea of the Benz and a backpack, the mix
of the information, the responsibility to my parents who were
educators and the understanding that it had to be a bit dumbed
down, it had to be accessible in a way. And next question?
Tiffany Holmes:
This is L’Andrea.
L’Andrea:
Hi. Um, yeah. [Laughter] Okay, um, do you feel your work is
influenced by the Baltimore riots or any other events within the
black community? Can you give us an example of how current
events targeting bodies like yours affected your practice?
Kanye West:
I think every time we would go to the studio we would recap our
entire history up to that point. Current events and you know, the
past 500 years. Or past 2100 years. Um, I say that because I – I’m
on the Christian clock because I’m a Christian and [laughter]...
And when I work I work really slow. I let – I let the steak
marinate. So the idea is to of – of jumping to current event to
event to event uh, they usually like, come out in the – in the music
over a four to six month period from after they come because
everyone wants to speak so quick and so emotionally and like,
react right away.
And it’s just the way I create my music or the way I create my
content. It just takes me uh, a little bit longer, a lot more
conversations and I don’t like to complain without trying to find or
offer a solution. Which takes even longer. So that’s the – that’s
the process and that’s how events like that affect my eventual uh,
the things I eventually say. Next question?
Tiffany Holmes:
Sonny?
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Kanye West
Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
Sonny:
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I been waiting a long time. [Laughter] Uh, she – she’s my girl and
ever since I was this tall it’s been about you, but um – I have to ask
a question to get to this question, but um [laughter] my question is
I’m from the west side of Chicago, and this is gonna get a little
emotional, but I’ve um, lost two of my friends to violence. They
got shot and killed. And um, I make all the right decisions um, I
never did drugs, never did anything but um, I’m scared. I’m
scared I’m next and um [crying] my family and I, we live on a
street and we’re scared for bullets to come through the window and
my sister, but I’m the last hope. I’m the first one to ever make it.
And I’m so hungry and I need something and I’m just hoping you
give some guidance to all of us, you know? We got Vick up there,
we got my buddy Ben up there, like, we need something to keep
going in this city because I don’t know if uh, if somebody else in
my life or do it myself, I just – I don’t know how to get out.
[Applause]
Kanye West:
I’m speechless, I don’t have an answer to that. I can only just
listen to you and feel I understand what we’re dealing with here.
And I can’t say that anything that I do or say will be the end all, be
all difference. I mean, we can just try. Yeah, I’m not – I’m not
even gonna try to give any politically correct answer that somehow
makes it seem like after I say it that it’s all good. Because it’s not
all good, it’s fucked up out here. [Applause]
Tiffany Holmes:
Floor is open. Somebody wanna ask?
Claire:
Thanks. Um, sorry, okay, I’m Claire. Um, that’s something really
hard to follow uh, but I’ve – this is something I’ve been thinking
about like, while you’ve been talking.
Um, I’m a fashion student and um, I was thinking about like,
process and um, my process being something that’s like, based on
like, a feeling, based on a mood. I like – I don’t really respond
well to like, sketching um, and I’m like, really interested in what
your hand is in your design. Like, with your collection? Um, and
based – just kind of wondering like, what your process is and like,
how you start, like, how you get an idea and like, yeah, just what
your hand is in that process.
Kanye West:
Well, my process is very similar to how I work on music. And I
had this um, epiphany like, two months ago that I was in the exact
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Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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same situation, obsession, and position in clothing that I was in
music about 13, 14 years ago because when I moved to New Jersey
from Chicago my entire apartment was filled records from head to
toe.
And when I was looking at my uh, room in my house two months
ago it was completely filled with vintage samples. And the
bathroom had been taken over with shoe samples and I had like,
the first Louis Vuittons and a pair of Yeezys, a color where they
never came out just completely – like you couldn’t even use the
toilet, it was like [laughter] so – and I was like “Wow, this is the
same process,” and it’s funny that you talk about process because
when I hire designers a lot of them have an issue with my process
because I do one million style ups.
And a style up is where you take vintage clothes, you get like, 100
vintage pieces and then you sit there and you and you know, one
stylist or me and six stylists sit there and – and I say “one stylist”
because designs is so, like, contained. Most designers are
extremely arrogant and don’t wanna ask a lot of questions and –
and then like Johnny has 17 designers that have like, and he’s the
best designer on the planet, you know?
Uh, and so my process, I try to think about the way Johnny Oz
would approach it, the way Steve Jobs would approach it, the way
Walt Disney would approach it, the way Howard Hughes would
approach it uh, as opposed to the way fashion had normally been –
I don’t even like the word, you know, uh, I think – I’m trying my
best to not say extra politically incorrect things. [Laughter]
Anything unnecessary.
Uh, but to speak to that idea I’m constantly trying to find my
process. Even right now as I’m doing recruiting for my next
collection and we’re going to fashion houses and poaching talent
and uh, schools and getting talent uh, I – I talk about the – not the
process of just the fashion brand, but the process of an animation
studio, a process of uh, a car manufacturer, the process of Apple,
obviously.
Like, I wanna see everyone’s org chart. I wanna see ten versions
of org charges you know, just in fashion alone. Like, why does
H&M work and Zara work, why does Celine and Givenchy work,
why does the Gap somewhat work? Not really, [laughter] you
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guys should call me. Why did the Gap used to work? [Laughter]
Shots fired, but – but [laughter] why does uh – why does J. Crew
work? Or Mickey Drex – Drexler is a genius, of course. Why
does, you know, why does Apple work?
Why do these uh – what are uh, the strategies, what is the setup,
what is the process that makes all these companies work? And it’s
interesting because you always hear about you know, now tech
pulling from uh, pulling from fashion because fashion has this
understanding of culture which is you know, what art drives. And
how do you do it in a way where you truly understand it and you’re
part of it? Like, say the reason why I always say I like Apple
better than Samsung, and I’m sorry, I say it every year [laughter]
but, I mean, they just kick their ass. Samsung had a watch, but we
don’t remember that, do we? Because now Apple’s is way better.
[Laughter]
But, you know, Johnny will sit and get Marc Newson to come in
that did the Ikepod and design with them. Or like when we worked
– when I worked with Murakami I would get them to work
together and what happens with like, commercial or the average
business world, you know – in – in my mind I see millions of
colors, in the business world they only see one. What color do you
think that is?
Female Speaker 1:
Green.
Kanye West:
Green. [Laughter] Which actually is my favorite color, ironi –
ironically, for some reason, not because it’s the color of – it was
my mom’s favorite color and I think it’s just color of nature and
it’s an awesome color. I really don’t like blue, actually.
[Laughter] The color. Not the child. I love Blue, I love j –
[laughter] I love Jay-Z’s daughter. So don’t try to… And then
they’re gonna say, “Jay-Z doesn’t ever like to fly on North West.”
[Laughter]
But that question, it was so interesting that you asked that question
because literally like, I’ll be, you know, having a – a style up and
I’ll be sitting there going through look after look after look after
look and like, a designer will come up to me and say, “It’s time to
sketch now.” And I’m like, “No, it’s not. We don’t have uh
[laughter], we don’t have enough information.” Or, “It’s time for
you to do the styling because I like the way you put it together.”
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Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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I’m like, “No, it’s not. I don’t have enough of – I don’t have
enough stars to build this constellation yet.”
I need to keep seeing information, keep – because we want to
invent, we wanna contribute something, we don’t wanna just
capitalize off of what happened in the past. We don’t wanna just
do our version of a – a Polo collared shirt and put a logo on it. We
want to contribute, we wanna think about what society needs, what
people need right now and how can we provide it to them at a pri –
at a price that’s you know, re – I mean realistic. I don’t wanna use
the words “affordable” or “contemporary” and these type of things.
Realistic you know, and how, you know, I just visited Axel
Vervoordt, he has a, I’m gonna say this name wrong and you guys
are gonna diss me, but Fortuny I think is the name, and has a
palace in Venice and I just came from the Biennale and Axel
Vervoordt uh, is a – you can’t even pinpoint exactly what he is.
But he’s like a mix between an architect and an artist. It almost
diminishes him to say “interior designer”, but that’s a form of what
he does.
But his main point – and I look at him as, like, Yoda. I don’t know
if he looks at me like Luke, but I look at him as Yoda. [Laughter]
And [laughter] his whole point is proportion. How important
proportions are. So if you think of the idea of luxury – I have a
theory and a feeling right now that I got from looking at Axel
Vervoordt lectures that the luxury is in the proportion. Whether,
you know, small proportion or Rome sized proportion. The luxury
– so when you think luxury I don’t think of a really tight Gucci
jacket with a logo on it. There’s noth – there’s nothing luxury
about that. That’s – that’s an insignia to say “I’m part of this
gang” or “I spent this money – much money on it.”
But then you’ll see, like, pictures of um, families in Africa that
look so dignified and so stylish. And there’s no way that their
entire – you add up everybody in that family’s outfit there’s no
way it costs as much as that one Gucci jacket.
And the understanding of proportions. Like uh, when I was doing
Yeezus and I was in uh, Paris I was working on my apartment and
I worked with this architect named Joseph Dirand and he
introduced me to Generay, Sharla Peerion, and Kibooziay. And
Kibooziay, I bought this lamp. And it was dumb expensive, it was
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Tiffany Holmes, Dr. Walter Massey, Kanye West, Leshovo, Atoonu, L’Andrea, Sonny, Claire,
Crowd, Male Speaker 1-6, Female Speaker 1-9
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like, $110,000 [laughter] and it was very inspiring to me, inspired
the Yeezus album. Not just [laughter] – not just because it was
expensive. But more for the fact that it was free when it was first
made. And it cost a lot because it’s a statement now of class where
these French gallerists charge rich people more.
Which I thought was really interesting as the world becomes less
racist that there’s still a really big class war. There’s a real
separation of the classes and the masses and Kibooziay gave the
people higher ceilings, literally and metaphorically, uh, and I
remember at that time I was going through leaving Nike and going
to Adidas. And I was also dealing with trying to get a deal with
um, a high – a luxury house. Because I wanted to paint. But I
wanted to paint with usable art, sculptures equals clothing.
Clothing is a form of usable art.
Uh, and I would look at that lamp that was made of rocks and
cement, but the shape was so beautiful. And it wasn’t even made
of marble. So when it was time to do the Adidas collection I left
Nike because they refused to give me a percentage because I was
not an athlete and I don’t have an NDA that says I can’t say this
even though it seems like wrong to say out loud, uh [laughter] I
left Nike because they refused to give me a percentage. They also
offered me four million dollars a year to stay which is an unknown
thing, but I’m sure it will show up on Hypebeast tomorrow.
[Laughter and applause]
I wanted people to know that. [Laughter] And I still left them
because they weren’t giving me the opportunity to grow. They
were working on an old business model and Phil Knight was
somewhere on an island. And then Mark Parker would go and find
people who I collaborated with years before and try to do
collaborations with them to seem cool and, as you see, Nike hasn’t
done, like, one cool thing this year.
[Laughter, moans, applause]
Shots fired. [Laughter] And these are available at Footlocker
right now. [Laughter] These are – these are just Adidas that are
fresh, they’re not even my shoes, I’m not even gonna get paid
anything – I didn’t get paid anything to wear them. [Clears
throat]
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But the point was when I would look at that Kibooziay lamp and
think “He made this and he put this lamp in Zeus so everyone
could have it.” It was about everyone having the opportunity to
have beauty, to be inspired. How many times have you walked
into a – a designer store where you really like the head designer a
lot and then you just, you know, you grab the piece and it’s just
impossible to even consider how you could possibly ever afford
that. And you might just spend some time in the store until the
point where they make you feel so uncomfortable that you have to
leave [laughter] and you’re like, “I just wanna be at least around it
[laughter] for a while.”
Or you could take it to the next level and just try it on. Catch a
nice little selfie up in the dressing room, post. [Laughter]
So one of the things that I loved about being nouveau riche was the
ability to take those things out of the dressing room. And by doing
that I was able to learn and educate myself. And I saw the Dior
documentary and Dior was educated from day one. He was born
with wealth. And as you guys know, whenever you try to get
credit or a car loan or anything like – you gotta have something to
have something. It’s almost impossible to start from nothing. Or
maybe have an extremely amazing talent and you can get a
scholarship like I did at one point. I had a – what is it called when
you don’t have the whole scholarship, but… [laughter]
Partial [laughter] scholarship for six months at the American
Academy of Art. Don’t boo me for saying that, that was the school
I went to. [Laughter] Because they gave me the – and I had a
scholarship here, too. Partial. [Laughter] And then when that
scholarship was up I went to – I was fortunate enough that my
mom was a professor at Chicago State University so I could
continue my education until I had the opportunity where I was, you
know, making enough money at the craft.
Uh, you know, I wanted to talk about this barrier between art,
music, and fashion. Because as we know with the class system,
you know, who’s the highest, of course. Art. Art is considered to
be the highest on the class system of creatives. Somehow even
above a director. You know, it’s – they can’t even be mentioned in
the same breath as that. And I – I was on the phone with Steve
McQueen one time he said, “I’m not a photographer.” [Laughter]
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He had to like, let me know. “Okay, but you use a camera, Steve.”
[Laughter]
And I thought it was really amazing that Steve McQueen, the – the
– the best thing I thought about Steve McQueen winning an Oscar
wasn’t, as some people have told me, “He is the first African
American Oscar winner.” He’s not American, bro. [Laughter]
So [laughter]...
But I thought what was [laughter] the best thing about Steve
winning that Oscar was the fact that he was able to be excellent at
two disciplines. Absolutely excellent at two disciplines. And
there’s theories about people who are amazing at stuff actually are
amazing at other things. So it’s so weird.
Like, so Lewis Hamilton’s over at my house, right? And he starts
playing music. [Laughter] I know, I’m super Randy Jackson, I’m
super random. These random ideas. They all make up a point.
And he’s there and we’re playing some music in my studio, we’re
having like, an Easter brunch and all the family is there. It’s like,
everything is all – all of my wife’s family and a lot of my friends
and everything.
Uh, and he’s playing music and everybody’s like, “What is this
music?” And I’m like, “It’s Lewis Hamilton’s music.” And
they’re like, “Oh, my God, I thought it was gonna sound…” I’m
not gonna say the names that they said they thought it’s gonna
sound like because that would be – but it was, it’s good, it’s really,
really good and it goes back to my point of, which is a selfish point
of mine because I wanna make it back to the fact that I’m gonna be
a really good clothing designer.
[Laughter and applause]
But just as a point of discipline. Like, Fortuny – is that how you
say the name? I don’t wanna mess…
Female Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Kanye West:
Okay. Because he was a – a theater designer, clothing designer,
painter, merchant and that people can have more than one skillset.
But let me – let me flip it on the other side. So uh, I have to use
this example and I won’t say the names, but I’ll just say a friend of
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mine and uh, they might be here. But a friend of mine showed me
uh, their sketchbook and their fashion collection. And when they
showed it to me I looked at it and it was – it had vibes. It
definitely was vibey, you know? And when I saw it I said, “Well,
are you still in school?”
And the kind of response – maybe I’m gonna – I’m gonna go a bit
heavy handed on it was that they didn’t need school. And then
when I tried to express why they did need to have that education or
really get their craft together they brought up, of course, my best
friend and creative director Virgil Abloh who has an extremely
successful clothing line right now and also is an extremely
successful DJ, an extremely successful creative director, obviously
uh – and – but I really stressed the point of how important
education was. And this is from the dropout add it as always, you
know.
I sat with Louise Wilson uh, a couple weeks before she died and
she told me – Louise Wilson is the acclaimed professor from St.
Martins that taught Phoebe Philo, Alexander McQueen, John
Galliano, and I feel like I’m her honorary student also. And she sat
there, we – we sat at Hakkasan’s and she talked to me for three
hours. And she always said “These students today, they ain’t
wroth shit.” [Laughter]
She even – she got sued, like, four times, you know, like, she’s
very harsh. [Laughter] And have you guys ever saw Whiplash?
Crowd
Yes.
Kanye West:
Yeah, something like that. [Laughter] And um, and she said,
“How’s your daughter doing and everything?” And I remember
the last thing she said, she said, “You know what the problem is
with all these students? Soon as they did anything from when they
were really little their parents clapped.” And the point she wanted
to make to me that she said to me as we were leaving out the
hallway of the restaurant the last time I saw her was don’t clap.
You have to push them, you have to drive them.
I remember the first time when North climbed all the way to the
top of the stairs. And I’m trying to say that Kim would have
grabbed her by third stair. [Laughter] But she felt like she had to
impress me so much and be more dynamic or hit the highest point
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that she had ever, you know, had ever hit in her life. Um, and
Louise was really hard and, you know, difficult with the students
but I felt like when you like Celine, when you like McQueen, all
these things that have inspired us, I’m just talking directly about
fashion, it’s because there were people that pushed that hard.
And, you know, not to defend myself, but just to take this
opportunity because I have the mic, it’s not someone else’s mic,
it’s my mic, I could talk right now. [Laughter] Um, I feel a
responsibility to push in the world. I feel a responsibility in my
position to be like, this is some bullshit. Am I the only one here
that’s not crazy? [Laughter] Am I the only one here that’s not
afraid of losing they Samsung deal right now?
[Laughter and applause]
I think the responsibility that we have as artists, and I will mention
myself in the same breath as you because after Tuesday I will have
a doctorate. So… [cheers and applause] The song can’t tell me
nothing never rang so true. [Laughter]
But I feel throughout time as artists our responsibility was to truth
– was to the truth.
Because how else could history be
documented? How else could our time be represented, this time
that we had? You know. Who’s gonna stand up and say, you
know, as the gentleman said earlier today, how it really is right
now. Who’s gonna express that? There was a time when hip-hop
expressed that. It doesn’t anymore, in my opinion, it’s just very
simple. It’s like, “I’m – yo, girl, I got the drugs with me, I just my
– I bought a foreign car.” [Laughter and applause] No more hit.
[Laughter]
You know, when I would um, sit with Farrakhan as I’ve done
many times over this past year especially and got really close to
him, um, he would stress that responsibility of the truth. The truth
no matter what. When I would sit with Steve McQueen he would
express that responsibility of the truth, the truth no matter what.
Matthew Barney is my favorite um, artist, um, Vanessa Beecroft,
um, I’ve got a list. [Laughter] But Matthew is my favorite. That
is my truth. Uh, and when I go and see a five hour piece I just felt
like he didn’t hold back from what was in his – his spirit. I felt
like he expressed exactly the way he saw it and that’s also the – I
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use all these words and I have a really simple word that I want that
describes it the best and I don’t wanna do a Porky Pig and you
know, say four words to describe this one word. That is the…
[laughter] My hard drive, it has the little rainbow spinning wheel
on my – on my desktop right now. [Laughter]
I guess it’s go veeit. That is the privilege of art is to express
exactly what you feel and to never lose that. I refuse to say the
sentence all the way through about how everyone was born an…
I’m not even gonna finish that sentence. But to capture your
childhood. You know, I say all the time every opportunity that I
get, every expanded opportunity to paint uh, I feel like I’m getting
younger and younger and younger.
The idea of becoming an adult is the idea of conforming and
compromising. My daughter, I know she goes to sleep and she
dreams this whole plan about how she’s gonna get away with
whatever she can possible by the time she wakes up. [Laughter]
And I think that that’s also a responsibility of artists. To try to get
away with whatever you can.
[Laughter, cheers and applause]
Because everyone’s compromising.
Everyone is placing
themselves in a social debt based on how big their house is or how
fast their car is and how fast the car is next door to them. They’re
losing their art. They’re losing their passion. They’re losing their
purpose.
It’s like the whole world is based on showing how much you have
or posturing in that way. I went into debt to chase my dreams. I
went into debt when no one wanted a straight, black, American
entertainer to design a dress. I went into debt as a rapper. As a ma
– people, I got my ghost. All this. And it was like this unspoken
word amongst the industry that somehow people felt like they
could posture on me. That I’m motherfucking Kanye West.
[Cheers and applause]
And there’s no value of house, of car, of idea of debt that will
control my three year old that I have inside of me. That will stop
my artistry, that will stop my truth. There’s no mass public
perception. There’s no immediate finger pointing that will stop my
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truth. So you’ve heard the term no weapon against me shall
prosper.
Crowd:
Yes!
Kanye West:
And I would – I would gamble that there’s no current celebrity that
there have been more perceptions of mental or verbal press
weapons formed against. And I’d also say there are none more
prosperous. [Laughter]
So this is just an example that it’s all smoke and mirrors. Other
than what the gentleman talked about earlier, none of it’s real.
You know, you can drive past a homeless person and think who’s
richer, who’s freer. Drive past a homeless person in Maybach and
think who’s richer, who’s freer.
In the future I think because we’re more visually driven uh, due to
uh, thank you Instagram, thank you internet, thank you – just the
communication of people understanding art. Like art being in
style, in fashion, known, you know, and appreciated I think there
will be more opportunities for us to be successful as artists. Be
appreciated. Art means something. Fonts – me – I get emotional
over fonts. [Laughter] Spacing, proportion.
[Laughter]
Okay, I’ll take one more question. That was my answer to that
question, by the way.
[Laughter and applause]
Aurelia:
Hi. I’m Aurelia.
[Crosstalk]
Kanye West:
Hey, what’s up?
Aurelia:
On SoundCloud I’m Awk, you can che – A-W-K. [Cheers and
applause] Um, but I wanted to know um, as a person who’s
pursuing music, but also uh, feel as if I have some academic
obligations to finish school um, how – what does this honorary
doctorate mean to you?
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17
You have to move based on opportunity. If you have um, an
opportunity to make a living at exactly what you dream about you
have to pursue that at that time when it’s there. If the opportunity
isn’t there, just keep educating yourself as much as possible so that
when the time comes you’ll be even better at that dream that you
had.
What I keep saying is don – I don’t wanna totally touch on this too
long because I might, like, start you know, crying, but I would
think that my mom would trade in every single Grammy, BET,
every award for her son to have a doctorate being that she was Dr.
West. Um… [applause]
I won’t touch on this too long. So I always was frustrated when I
would come to this type of – well, I never came to quite this kind
of thing, but you go to a music seminar and everyone’s giving
people some comments or ideas. Uh, when I couldn’t express
myself. So before I close I would like for you, whoever still has a
question, just scream the question at me all at the same time, right
now, and I wanna see if there’s anything that I hear that I wanna
speak on.
Go ahead, this is your last chance, I’m leaving with the…
Crowd:
[People shouting questions] [Laughter]
Male Speaker 1:
Can I give you a hug? [Laughter]
Crowd:
[People shouting questions]
Male Speaker 2:
When are you gonna open a school?
[Applause and laughter]
Female Speaker 3:
Will you make a commitment to come back to SAIC?
[Applause]
Male Speaker 2:
Sound Department at SAIC, we’re here, we’re all here.
Female Speaker 3:
Sound, art.
Male Speaker 2:
Fashion, we’re all here.
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Female Speaker 4:
What does Chicago mean to you?
Female Speaker 5:
Can we hang out later?
Crowd:
[People shouting questions]
Male Speaker 3:
Oh, favorite [inaudible]?
Crowd:
[People shouting questions] [Applause]
Female Speaker 6:
What is the biggest Kanye West misconception? [Laughter and
applause]
Female Speaker 7:
You have to strain to be heard. Is this payback? [Laughter]
Female Speaker 8:
Do you wanna collaborate? [Cheers]
Male Speaker 4:
Do you have a tape player?
Male Speaker 5:
Why did you come to the blog?
Crowd:
[Inaudible]
Female Speaker 9:
Rap something. [Laughter]
Male Speaker 6:
Do you wanna build a snowman?
[Laughter and applause]
Kanye West:
Yes, I do. I do wanna build a snowman.
[Cheers and applause]
Hater acromen. Try. So why I say I wanna build a snowman is
because I want [laughter] I want Bob Iger, the head of Disney, to
invest in my ideas. Not one idea, not a good idea, even a bad idea,
a series of them. But just in my ideas.
One of my ideas is that as I go to Art Basel and Biennale and all
these things I love Walt Disney, I love what he was able to do. I
love Howard Hughes, David Stern. Um, Steve Jobs. [Laughter] I
feel Disney should have an art fund that completely supports all of
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the artists and, as you say, this idea of uh, coming and getting the
talent here, I feel that there should be a responsibility, recruiters
constantly looking for new thinkers and connecting them directly
to companies that already work.
Why does the person who has the most genius idea or cultural
understanding or can create the best art have to figure out how to
become a businessman in order to be successful at expressing it?
[Applause]
Like, you remember Jay-Z has that rap, “I’m not a businessman.
I’m a businessman.” I have a rap that says, “I’m not a
businessman. I’m not a businessman.”
[Laughter]
I think it’s important – important that anyone that’s in power to
empower. I – I like to think that I have a good eye for art that will
be commercially viable. I know that the word “commercial” is like
the – don’t say that.
[Laughter]
But I think that’s my particular skillset, it’s certain people who
have the ability to, you know, work at the mall and know what’s
gonna pop there. Certain people that can curate a gallery. And
that’s a completely different skillset. I think my skillset is
somewhere in between so I wouldn’t even try to, you know, at this
point in my life curate a Biennale or – but I felt that for these past
ten years, 12 years when we made music we tried to challenge the
commercial status quo and push art.
I have synesthesia, I see sound in front of me, I’ve been trying to
paint this picture since high school. I have paintings of drums, of
snares, of chords. The colors that they are. [Imitates cymbal]
that’s white. [Imitates drum] That’s dark color. I see it in front
of me. So when people try to separate art from music or fashion or
the art of conversation, food, everything is art. We’re all part of
one big painting as you guys saw, that was a sonic painting that
was happening right then.
We’re all part of one giant movie, one giant painting. Every day
that you step out you’re a piece of the painting. Your contribution
– I could say something like – I hate giving like, these really like,
meaningful statements and shit and everybody’s like, “Oh, that,
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that really changed everything for me,” and shit. I’d rather like
[laughter] – I’d rather be like Michelangelo and not finish the
statement, you know? Not finish every, you know.
Um, and let you, you know, the end of The Sopranos or something,
let you decide what happens.
[Laughter and applause]
[Cheers and applause]
[Crowd murmuring] [Music]
[End of Audio]
Duration: 60 minutes
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