Kanye took me from a kid who listened to music to a kid who lived music.
G.O.O.D. Music is just real tastemakers, man. Kanye’s a real tastemaker. One thing that I feel is tight about G.O.O.D. is that a lot of people have their own style, and you can see that. My style is different than Pusha’s, it’s different than Cudi’s. But it’s also slightly similar ’cause we have some similar tastes.
His belief in the power of music to convey ideas – not just entertain – has filtered down to musicians in every field, from alt-rock to hip-hop, from Bruce Springsteen and U2 to Arcade Fire and Kanye West. Popular music is different because of Johnny Cash.
The first time I really listened to an album and thought, ‘This album is mine,’ was Kanye’s ‘Late Registration.’
You come to my studio, it says ‘No photography on premises.’ I picked that up from Kanye. We don’t need all that. In the old days in the Wu, we didn’t allow anybody in the studio, not even women. We didn’t start allowing women until five years after our debut. ODB used to get mad.
Like, I always knew I wanted a Kanye West feature and a Jay-Z feature. I knew that starting in the game when it wasn’t even realistic to happen. I already knew who I wanted to do records with.
Kanye’s the best listener I’ve ever worked with. If I interrupt Kanye, every single time, he’ll wait for me to finish before speaking. It’s a running joke – sometimes I interrupt him just to see. And he always goes, ‘No, no, finish. I want to hear what you have to say.’
I’d love to get in a room with Kanye at some point, have a conversation, and see if something cooks up.
My favorite rappers are a lot of other people’s favorite rappers. I love Jay Z, Kanye, 2Pac, Biggie, old Mos Def.
I love the Kanye West, I respect the Kanye West, but his wife look like fat penguin. She eat too much cheeseburger and she have no moderation.
I only think one person is really cool, and that’s Kanye.
I remember going backstage on a random night and Kanye goes, ‘Ayo Premier, I’m about to drop an album called ‘College Dropout’ and I’m rapping on the whole thing. And as I soon it drop it’s gonna go double platinum.’ I looked at him like, ‘That’s a bold statement to make if you never rapped before.’
Look at Daft Punk and Kanye West. The song ‘Stronger’ was inspired by a Daft tune. Once the hip-hop scene opens up to all the great music that came out of dance, it will continue to spread to the more mainstream audience.
Kanye is going to have to decide early whether or not he’s a Baby Bjorn guy, because the minute you put on that Baby Bjorn, there’s no turning back. It’s like buying a minivan. You lose a little piece of yourself when you get that Baby Bjorn.
What Autotune allows is for people like myself and Kanye West not to depend on the singer. Back in the Fifties, the songwriter was rendered invisible. Now the songwriter is there in the forefront.
The first time I was pregnant, Kanye and I were dating, and I was just being introduced to the world of fashion. I wanted to work with a bunch of different stylists, and when you work with a new stylist, everyone wants to possess your look.
I think whenever you’re around Kanye, you gotta take notes. The advice is taking notes, because everything he does and everything he says is very detailed and very up front. He’s always one hundred what he says.
I’ve seen Jay-Z and Kanye West. I’ve seen actors like Tom Hanks and Nicholas Cage.
The word we have in Korea for K-Pop is ‘Gaio.’ And I guess it’s a huge umbrella term. Basically it’s like saying Coldplay and Kanye West, or Eminem and Celine Dion, are the same genre.
Kanye’s the best. He really, really is. He’s cool. And why we’ve always gotten along is because we can just sit down and talk about art.
I think Kanye West is brilliant at what he does: he’s got a different live show, different merch for every tour, different vibes, and he just puts out great records.
Kanye and T.I. both engage with what I’m doing.
I have Kanye’s ego to some extent.
I just respect Kanye as an artist.
You won’t find me at parties or the openings of movies and I don’t hang around with David Beckham and Kanye West. So the paparazzi leave me alone, which means that I can do my shows, write music and then live a normal life.
I knew Kanye way before he was signed.
I rock with Chance, I rock with Kanye, I rock with Common.
I definitely want to work with Kanye, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande – all the big people.
I feel like I’m the Kanye of the NFL.
I think Kanye West is – people don’t give him the credit he deserves for what he has brought to our generation.
My favorite artists are Kanye West, Jay Z, the Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Destiny’s Child.
I loved everything, but it was Kanye West who really changed everything for me.
Meeting Kanye West was a blessing.
I had an advantage because people would post me on blogs because I had co-signs from Kanye West, Def Jam, and G.O.O.D. Music. Everything I put out, the blogs would put up. When I realized that, I used that to my advantage and helped build my following on my own.
Kanye looks for the best in everything.
I’m no longer the young guy in No I.D.’s studio asking for Kanye beats.
I was on Kanye’s Yeezus tour as a dancer, but really, I was a Vanessa Beecroft model. I was one of the three ‘dancers’ who couldn’t dance and was more of an accessory than an individual. Vanessa was pretty involved. Her style is about a lot of standing. It’s very simple but haunting.
I like Kanye and Kendrick Lamar.
I love Kanye, I love what he does musically, I love his ability to push the envelope.
The only people playing the roles of classic rock stars are hip-hop artists, now. Kanye’s stage persona, and the way he approaches making albums, and the way he wants to be better than everyone else? That’s reminiscent of Freddie Mercury. That’s reminiscent of the Beatles.
The only person I’ve worked with on my album was Kanye. And between the stuff that I’ve done and the stuff that he’s assisted on and produced for me for this album, I don’t even need anything else.
If you look at things historically, Kanye West has really represented the battering ram against political correctness.
Kanye and Pharrell are in fashion. Why not J Balvin?
I don’t know. I respect Kanye, but when it comes to Trump, I’m not into that, man.
I met Kim Kardashian the other week, and she knew who I was! I walked in the room, and she was like, ‘I should text Kanye saying you’re here; he showed me your music.’ It’s really hard to digest. Also, I don’t think you should digest stuff like that.
It’s incredibly cool that R & B artists like Kanye and the Weekend, who from a completely different genre to us have tapped into ‘The Hurting.’
Kanye is so much fun. He’s a wonderful person. What I love about Kim and Kanye is that I think they save their happy moments and their smiles for themselves rather than sharing everything with the public. And listen, when a camera is shoved in your face trying to take a selfie, you do not want to smile.
Where he tells you exactly how he views the world – just very straight Kanye, honesty that definitely gets your creativity and strong opinions out on the floor. I think it helped me find myself.
There’s so many things that Kanye does that I agree with and disagree with at times. I just say, ‘You’re in a different place, and what you’re doing is experimental. Nobody’s been there in hip-hop.’
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