Kanye West is a lot of things, but insecure is not one of them. Sitting down with BBC Radio 1 personality Zane Lowe
for an hourlong interview airing Monday, Sept. 23, the rapper, 36,
called himself "the No. 1 rock star on the planet" and said he's here
push the boundaries of everything we think we know about art, music,
fashion, and culture.
The hip hop star and new dad (to daughter North, 3 months, with Kim Kardashian) considers himself to be something of a revolutionary. Though he conceded that "there would be no Kanye West if it wasn't for Michael Jackson," he also said he'd reached a point that even the King of Pop hadn't seen in his lifetime.
"I've got to a point that Michael Jackson
did not break down. I have reached the glass ceiling, as a creative
person, as a celebrity...and I've been at it for 10 years," he told
Lowe. "I look around and I say, 'Wait a minute. There's no one around
here in that looks like me. And if they are, they're quiet as f--k.' So
that means, wait a second -- now we're seriously like, in a civil rights
movement."
West went on to say that he's had a hard time getting people to see
his potential. "I shouldn't be limited to only one place of creativity,"
he lamented. "You guys don't understand -- I did the Air Yeezys and
they eBay'd for $90,000...but I didn't get a call from Nike the next
day."
In that way, he envies the empire
his pal Jay Z has built. "Jay Z is more realized than me. More of his
dreams and aspirations have come true," West
said. "You don't realize -- I am so frustrated. Like, I've got so much I
want to give...And I've got a million people telling me why I can't do
it."
The aspiring fashion designer thinks he can do it -- and he's
determined to prove it. "I'm not trying to regurgitate myself," he said.
"I showed people that I understand how to make perfect. You know, [My
Twisted] Dark Fantasy could be considered to be perfect. I know how to
make perfect, but that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to crack the
pavement and make new grounds sonically...and culturally."
He added: "We culture. Rap is the new rock 'n' roll. We the rock stars...We the new rock stars and I'm the biggest of all of them. I'm the No. 1 rock star on the planet."
The "Black Skinhead" rapper also
talked a little about Kardashian and their daughter. Asked whether he
gets any time for himself, West said, "Yeah, it's like family time.
That's what Kim gave me. She gave me everything, she gave me family, she
gave me a support system. She was in a powerful enough situation where
she could love me without asking me for money, which is really hard for
me to find."
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Kanye West Calls Himself "the No. 1 Rock Star on the Planet" in Outrageous BBC Interview
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