Kanye West: think pop music has lost its edge? Here’s one titanic tunesmith who is keeping it sharp, sophisticated, and soulful to the core
Interview, Oct, 2005 by Fiona Apple
He may not be a living, breathing endorsement for the virtues of higher education, but college diploma or none, Kanye West is making top grades in the music world. With his recently released new album, Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam), the follow-up to his Grammy-winning, multiplatinum debut, The College Dropout, West has proven that he can keep not only the collegiate metaphors coming but also the hits. Here the 28-year-old rapper and producer talks to another artist who knows that you don’t have to sleep to dream: Fiona Apple.
FIONA APPLE: Hey.
KANYE WEST: What up? What’s good?
FA: I’ll tell you what’s good: I love your album.
KW: Aw, damn, you actually heard it?
FA: Yeah, and I’m obsessed with that song “School Spirit” right now. I keep on listening to it over and over. I love how you do your stuff. It’s just so dynamic. It’s such a joy to listen to something and hear different turns of phrases and words that sound so satisfying. It’s just so rare. So, what are you doing?
KW: I just did rehearsals for the Pepsi Smash concert in Miami. One second. [to someone else in the room] Okay, so she’s going to go to the dinner with us? [to Apple] I’m sorry.
FA: So, are you this busy all the time?
KW: Yes, constantly.
FA: Do you like that?
KW: Nah! But it’s better than when I was trying to look for work. Now I make myself busy by trying new shit all the time.
FA: Do you like other stuff besides music? Or do you just live in music and that’s it?
KW: I do videos. I focus a lot on the art direction of projects. I’d like to run a label some day. But with the level of artistry I want to bring, it’s just a headache, dealing with so many different things. People don’t realize that I’ve worked with a lot of different artists just to get to the point today where I can work on my own stuff–so I stay on top of it all the way.
FA: I read that you went to college for one year and then dropped out to pursue music. Did you have one experience that closed the deal for you to quit and go off and start doing music, or was it a gradual thing?
KW: With school, I just didn’t really want to be there. I was like, How do these credits apply to what I want to do in my life? So I would take courses that I could use a little bit: piano, speech, public speaking, English–which all helps me now. I had a record deal on the table back when I was 19 with Donny Ienner, but he hit me with the “We’ll call you” thing. By the time that happened, I had already dropped out of school, so it was back to telemarketing and jobs like that.
FA: Back up a sec. You took public speaking?
KW: Yeah.
FA: Were you afraid of that? Did you ever have a fear of public speaking?
KW: Nah. I was always a ham.
FA: But you just took it to get certain skills?
KW: To get better, yeah. I always want to be the best at whatever I’m attempting to do.
FA: How much do you sleep at night?
KW: When I’m touring, I get my full seven hours. But, man, I got mad questions for you.
FA: No, this is the one thing that I’m so fucking nervous about: I’ve never interviewed anybody in my life! But I want you to know how you operate because your mind is always working. You’ve constantly got this symphony in your head. Do you have a lot of dreams at night when you sleep? I have a lot of dreams.
KW: Oh, yeah.
FA: Do you remember them?
KW: Wait–I thought you don’t go to sleep to dream? [laughs] Yeah, I do remember a lot of them. And I get deja vu a lot so I guess the future is told to me in my dreams.
FA: How often do you get deja vu?
KW: Whenever I’m on the right path. That’s what someone told me. Whenever you get deja vu that means you’re on the right path. I get it, like, more than ten times a year.
FA: Who told you that it means you’re on the right path?
KW: A friend of mine told me that, but I think God has me on a path. I think he puts certain people in my life, and angels send messages to me, like, Kanye, I want you to say this, and I want you to say that, and I want you to talk to this girl here, and I don’t want you to do this over here. I was going to do a video where I tried to represent that, where three girls are walking down the street and I want to talk to them, and the guy points out the girls, and says this is what would happen to you if you talked to her, and this what would happen if you talk to her, and this is the girl that you need to be with, blah, blah, blah. And somehow represent that visually.
FA: Are you going to do that?
annaxmalina
pixelskylines
vaporwave
kianamaiart
blakekathryn
gummygunk
