Kanye-isms
On being rich: “I’m not a billionaire; I’m just a millionaire. But I’m the youngest guy I know who has this much interest in design and the ability to actually get some of it. So that makes me an important cog in the wheel.”
Kanye West with Amber Rose, October 2010.
On design: “Furniture is my superobsession now. Furniture and pornography, still. The porn thing has never left since I was in high school.”
Kanye West performing in Atlantic City, December 2012.
On Watch the Throne, his 2011 collaboration with Jay-Z: “It was like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates talking at the same time. You know which one of us was Steve.”
Kanye West onstage with Jay-Z, Paris, 2012.
On doing everything: “You know how they say, ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’? I want to be master of all. And not even to be a jack but a king. In fact, not even a king. An ace.”
Kanye West at a Lanvin show, January 2009.
On his new album, Yeezus: “This music is made to spark the visionaries to stand up for themselves and help the world. Because the world is fucked.”
Kanye West with with Kim Kardashian on Halloween, 2012.
On Christianity and Ralph Lauren: “I’m Christian in the same way that people have issues with certain elements of Christianity. It’s like if you go into a Ralph Lauren store, maybe that buyer didn’t do the exact buy that you want, but you still really like that brand.”
Kanye West at the Wallpaper Design Awards, Paris 2009.
On being intimidated by celebrities: “Anyone who meets me for the first time and is not slightly nervous is completely full of shit. Because when I meet people I respect, I’m nervous. When I go have lunch with Tarantino at the Chateau Marmont, I’m nervous. It’s fucking Tarantino!”
with Selita Ebanks, September, 2010.
On his intellect: “Visiting my mind is like visiting the Hermès factory. Shit is real. You’re not going to find a chink. It’s 100,000 percent Jimi Hendrix.”
At the Big Day Out festival, Southport, Australia, 2012.
On his imagination: “I live a pretty interesting life. But the life that I’m living is way less interesting than what I’m thinking.”
Kanye West at a Martin Margiela show, January 2013.
On the tattoo on his forearm of Madonna and Baby Jesus: “This is me and my mommy.”
Kanye West with his mom, Donda, at her book signing, Los Angeles, 2007.
On how seriously to take him: “You should only believe about 90 percent of what I say. As a matter of fact, don’t even believe anything that I’m saying at all. I could be completely fucking with you, and the world, the entire time.”
South Park’s Kanye, 2009.
On W’s 2010 cover of a nude Kim Kardashian: “I loved the fact that it happened, that it disturbed people. I loved the fact that it put those curves right inside that Hamptons house, that there’s some Hamptons husbands who had to cover that up.”
Kanye West with Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala, May 2013.
On his rock-star status: “Instead of using it to date as many supermodels as possible or to be as much of an asshole at a restaurant as possible, I would rather use it to access great minds. To be able to go to Axel Vervoordt’s castle on the first day that I meet him.”
Kanye West at a Givenchy show, January 2013.
