8 things we learnt from Kanye West’s Paper magazine essay

KANYE West has graced the cover of Paper magazine, and while he’s not baring his bum, he has tackled a whole bunch of issues that really rile him up.

KANYE West has graced the cover of Paper magazine, and while he’s not baring his bum or balancing a glass of champagne, he has revealed a whole lot about himself.

Fronting the April, 2015 issue of the very same magazine which featured his wife Kim Kardashian not so long ago, the notoriously outspoken rapper has penned an extensive and rather personal essay. In the lengthy ramble, titled The American Dream, he tackles everything from Taylor Swift, racism, Kim and baby North, and being the Illuminati.

Here are eight things we learnt from Yeezy’s first person Paper piece.

1) He’s all about collaboration:

“I think it’s so important for me, as an artist, to give Drake as much information as I can, A$AP [Rocky], Kendrick [Lamar], Taylor Swift, any of these younger artists as much information as I can to make better music in the future. We should all be trying to make something that’s better.”

2) He’s finally starting to feel respected:

“I feel very positive about the future. People are starting to recognise and just give me a chance to be looked at, respected and a part of the conversation.

“It’s funny to be so famous and noted for one thing, and to have so many people try to box you out of another form of art, even if you’ve proven you’re an artist of one form.”

3) He’s no Illuminati:

“If there was actually an Illuminati, it would be more like the energy companies. Not celebrities that gave their life to music and who are pinpointed as decoys for people who really run the world.

“I’m tired of people pinpointing musicians as the Illuminati. That’s ridiculous. We don’t run anything; we’re celebrities. We’re the face of brands. We have to compromise what we say in lyrics so we don’t lose money on a contract.”

Kim K’s Paper mag cover. Picture: Paper magazine

Kanye West on the cover of Paper. Picture: Paper magazine

4) It’s not easy being Madonna, or any celebrity for that matter:

“Madonna is in her 50s and gave everything she had to go up on an award show and get choked by her cape. She’s judged for who she adopts. F*ck all of this sensationalism. We gave you our lives. We gave you our hearts. We gave you our opinions!”

5) He doesn’t even think of himself as a musician these days:

“I am not what I would consider truly a musician,” he wrote. “I am an inventor. I am an innovator.

“It’s just harder for me to do music now, period. It’s easier for people who focus on it all day and who are younger in their concept of what they want to do with it.”

6) It all makes sense now that he’s a dad:

“When I look in North’s eyes, I’m happy about every mistake I’ve ever made. I’m happy that I fought to bring some type of reality to this world we choose to stay in right now, driven by brands and corporations.”

7) He knows money is important:

“I think that artists have been brainwashed to look at money as a bad thing, and it’s not. I think they’re equally important in our current civilisation.”

8) He’s all about positive energy:

“You get back what you put out, and the more positive energy you put out, the more positive energy you’ll get back.”

For more of Kanye’s words of wisdom, check out his full Paper magazine article here.