On Thursday, Kanye West sat down for another interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1. The troubled release of Yeezy's Jesus Is King is, assumedly, right around the corner, and Lowe went to Wyoming to discuss the record. Scheduled to drop on Oct. 25, the release was pushed from its original September date. The anticipation for fans will finally pay off on Friday, however.
On Thursday, Kanye West sat down for another interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1. The troubled release of Yeezy's Jesus Is King is, assumedly, right around the corner, and Lowe went to Wyoming to discuss the record. Scheduled to drop on Oct. 25, the release was pushed from its original September date. The anticipation for fans will finally pay off on Friday, however.
The duo covered what went into the decisions behind Jesus Is King, which is heavily inspired by his newfound committment to Christianity. Prior to the release of the record, 'Ye revealed that he won't be making secular music anymore, and speaking with Lowe he explored that idea further. He also discussed his porn addiction, his land he owns in Wyoming, his beef with Drake, mental health, Louis Vuitton, and his ongoing Sunday Service series.
One of the subjects tackled was why he almost stopped rapping entirely, explaining that he "didn't know how to rap for God" until No Malice of Clipse, who is on Jesus Is King alongside Pusha-T, helped him out.
Here's everything we learned from the lengthy two-hour interview.
Kanye said he had a porn addiction
Early on in the chat, Kanye discussed the idea that sex sells and said that it was a gateway to a porn addiction for him. "My dad had a Playboy magazine laid out when I was five," he said. "Playboy was a gateway to a full on pornography addiction. [...] It has impacted every choice I have made in my life from age five to now." He has since kicked his addiction, though.
He also revealed that when he was older it developed into a sex addiction, something he admited had fed his ego throughout the years. He referenced the moment he discovered the Playboy in relation to his infamous 2009 VMAs appearance, in which he walked on the red carpet with a bottle of Hennessy in his hand and later interupted Taylor Swift. He said that formative moment in his life came through big time in his attitude that night.
"That was such a script out of a rock star’s life," he said. "You know that Playboy that I found when I was 5 years old was written all over the moment when I was at the MTV awards with the Timberlands, the Balmain jeans... before people was rocking Balmain jeans, and the Hennessy bottle. My mom had passed a year before. And I said some people drown themselves in drugs, and I drown myself in my addiction: sex."
He asked his collaborators to not have premarital sex while working on 'Jesus Is King'
Later on, Kanye mentioned how he had toyed with the idea of having those working on music with him engage in fasting. But he also put down one rule during the production of Jesus Is King, one that might sound controversial to those familiar with his older music. Kanye revealed that he asked people working on Jesus Is King with him to not have premartial sex while working on the project.
"I was asking people to... this is gonna be radical what I’m about to say," he started. "There were times where I was asking people to not have premarital sex while they were working. [...] I know that’s one where The Shade Room gonna be like, 'what you meaaaan don’t have premarital sex? you better turn that Meg The Stallion on right now.' But seriously there’s times where I went to people that were working on other projects and said 'could you just work and focus on this?'"
He continued, "I thought if we could all focus and fast, I mean it’s known when people pray together families that pray together stay together. When people pray together, and fast together, the power is increased."
He still plans to run for president in 2024
While Kanye sort of skirted around the subject of Donald Trump, he did delve into what he thinks of "liberals" while admitting he's "the most liberal human being." From there he said he pissed off his liberal fans because he's the "greatest artist in human existence," and that him wearing the infamous MAGA hat was "God's practical joke."
He also added that he doesn't feel as though he has to defend himself for appreciating Trump. Of course, the political talk led questions about running for presidency in 2024. He didn't reveal too much about his plans, but he said that it's still something that him and his team are looking into. "We're working on it," he mentioned before changing the subject.
Additionally, he let Lowe know that he would still talk to him "when" he's president.
He addressed his rivalry with Drake
Briefly, Kanye discussed his rivarly with Drake that happened last year. He mentioned once again that they live within walking distance, and that he even went to his house once without security in hopes of chatting. He didn't, however, want to disturb the recording process of the perptually working Drizzy.
"You cannot be in service to God and be mad at your brother," he said. "I walk over to Drake's house with no security and leave my phone number, like, 'Here's my phone number.' I'm not trying to ring the door bell, he might be busy. He got a studio in there, just think he recording at all times."
This also lead to him bringing up some issues he has had with JAY-Z as of late, although he kept it relatively vague. "With Jay, I love all these people, but you gotta know there's lineage from Jay to 'Ye to Drake. This person your idol, get to know him, become friends, turn to frenemies, turn to enemies," he said. "Gotta bring back positive energy. But that's the lineage of rap kings and inspirers. Jay was my biggest inspiration."
He revealed that there's one person who's a bigger rival to him now. "I think about Bernard Arnault more than Drake," he said.
Louis Vuitton's Bernard Arnault is his second biggest hero
He mentioned that his number one hero is his father, but way under that in second place is Louis Vuitton's Bernard Arnault. “Bernard was one of my heroes,” he said, while mentioning that it was originally going to be himself in Virgil Abloh's place at the company. "He also offered me a deal five years ago when we had our first Yeezy show," he revealed, before explaining that it eventually fell apart just three months later when he had his hospital visit. "It had an effect on me going to the hospital," he said.
"I think about Bernard Arnault more than Drake," he said of his issues with Arnault due to the collapse of their deal. "I felt like it was supposed to be me. I was the Louis Vuitton Don," he continued. "Bernard Arnault is my new Drake," he added, while explaining that he wishes the best for Drizzy and would love to speak at his wedding whenever that might be.
"[Bernard Arnault] might have thought he was getting culture by taking Virgil, but no," he said. "Now you’re having to pilfer from my territory. You came in and took one person that is African and that can be the face to draw Louis Vuitton on the side of bags, and get people that look on Instagram and want to buy expensive items, that are of the culture so to say, to overspend on things."
He made sure to shower Arnault with plenty of praise, too. "My dad is my number one living hero, and then way way under that is Bernard Arnault because he’s got the taste," he continued. "He’s got the sensibility. He’s got the eye. This man created the idea of even wanting Louis Vuitton. It was just an old bag brand and he bought it. He had the wherewithal to get [Marc Jacobs] to go in and bring it to the streets with Sprouse, me, and Pharrell, and let him go wild. He let Kim Jones do the [collaboration] with Supreme, and now hired Virgil. I really admire what Bernard has done."
Regardless of how the situation went down, he's happy that Virgil got the job in the end. He said Virgil let him know they were "playing on the same court."
'Ye considers merch sales donations to Sunday Service
Kanye's Sunday Service events were an integral part of the interview, and the subject of church donations was brought up by Zane. While he didn't give an entirely clear nature, he did suggest he considers the sales from Sunday Service merch to be donations to the services.
"I would say so," he said when asked about whether he sees it as a donation to his "cause" or not. "Everything I do is for the church, even designing a shoe. John 3:16 instead of 350s. Now everything is for the church the vision that I have to be an innovator. Christian Innovator. There are a lot of organizations that have figured how to use creativity and innovation," he added.
Ultimately he said his desire from here on out is to "spread the gospel."
He said his hospital visit led him down the path to Christianity
"Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me," he said, discussing how Christianity changed him. "I’ve spread a lot of things. There was a time I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me, I was letting you know what the Hennessey had done for me, but now I’m letting you know what Jesus has done for me, and in that I’m no longer a slave, I’m a son now, a son of God. I’m free. The most space that I had to think is when I went to the hospital."
In 2016, Kanye checked himself into hospital for a "psychiatric emergency." He also offered up a preview of the Jesus Is King film during the chat, which assumedly delves into what led to his hospital stay.
"One of the things that happened when I went to the hospital is I started reading the Bible and I started writing and copying out Bible verses and a person came to my house that wasn’t a Christian and told me come over, and 30 minutes later I was in handcuffs headed to the hospital," he said. "Now this person very well may have saved my life because when you’re in an episode you could jump off the side of a balcony you can stab your eye out you can do a lot of things when you’re ramped up like that, but one of the things that people do now is they try to discriminate against my mind and my thoughts because of that moment."
He announces the Sunday Service album 'Jesus Is Born'
Kanye revealed plans to drop a Sunday Service album called Jesus Is Born, slated to release on Dec. 25. The Christmas release is a clear indication that Kanye is continuing on his path of dedication to God.
"I will continue to be used by God. I don’t love suffering," he explained. "No one loves pain but I’m still, through the good times and the suffering I praise God because I experience the blessings and I also experience the lessons. I’m just so blessed for everything that I’ve been through. To be standing here 15 years in, be making an album with the work, the paintings still are inspiring to me. Where I still want to listen. Music is my job that's why I'm putting out the album. Serving God is my job, that's why I'm here."
He also answered a question from Zane about whether he still enjoys working on music or not, considering how many other projects he's working on these days. "I quite enjoy the sound of my own voice," he joked. "And apparently by the streams, bilions of people do also."