10 Things We Learned From Kanye West’s Chicago Radio Interview
Kanye West had the internet buzzing after an interview today (Aug. 29) on WGCI 107.5 Chicago's Morning Show. It was Yeezy's first visit to his hometown radio station in years, and he used the opportunity to address much of his controversial conduct in recent months.
West wasted no time on air, opening unprompted with an emotional reaction to rumors that Drake planned to diss him in response to Pusha's Drizzy diss, "The Story of Adidon." He said the situation hit him "in a really sensitive place" and clarified that he holds no hard feelings toward the "In My Feelings" rapper.
Elsewhere in the interview, 'Ye discussed his May comment to TMZ that the enslavement of African-Americans "sounds like a choice," the decision to wear Donald Trump's infamous "Make America Great Again" hat, his appearance earlier this month on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and his political beliefs at large.
It was a long conversation, a portion of which you can watch at the bottom of this post. We've collected the highlights below.
- 1
Kanye Is Sorry
Yeezy defended at length his slavery comment and decision to wear Trump's red "MAGA" hat, but he also recognized that many people were disappointed by his actions. To those people, he offered an apology of sorts. "I want to take this moment right now to say I'm sorry for the one-two effect of the MAGA hat into the slave comment," he said. "I'm sorry to people who felt let down by that moment."
- 2
He's Never Voted
Kanye revealed that, despite his recent political outspokenness, he's never voted in an election. "I've never voted in my life," he told hosts.
- 3
Tears Were Shed Over Don C
At one point, Kanye teared up while discussing his former tour manager and ex-G.O.O.D. Music executive Don C. "The downfall of Kanye West is directly related to Don C not being around," he said. "He's actually in town right now. I just told him I need him to be there for me."
- 4
He Has a Direct Line to Donald Trump
West defended his pro-Trump rhetoric in part by claiming that he plans to use his relationship to the president, with whom he apparently has a direct line of contact, to help the city of Chicago. "Now we got a direct line," he said. "I got a direct line to the president, and let's see what happens with it, and how I apply that to the city. 'Cause i'm gonna apply it."
- 5
He Finally Answers Jimmy Kimmel's Question
The WGCI hosts gave West the opportunity to respond to Jimmy Kimmel's unanswered question about why he believes the president cares about Black people. "I feel that he cares about the way that Black people feel about him and he would like for Black people to like him, like they did when he was cool in the rap songs," he responded, after a very long pause. "He will do the things that are necessary to make that happen because he's got a ego like all the rest of us and he wants to be the greatest president and he knows he can't be the greatest president without the acceptance of the black community."
- 6
Kanye Loves Bernie Sanders
Yeezy explained that he supports Donald Trump because he philosophically supports every person. He also claimed to "love" and "support" Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
- 7
He Thinks Drake Was "Insensitive"
On the topic of Drake, Kanye said he has no beef, explaining that he's not that type of rapper. But while he wants to repair their relationship, he did feel hurt by rumors that Drizzy planned to diss him on an ultimately shelved response to "The Story of Adidon." He said it was "insensitive of [Drake] to stress me out in any way after TMZ while I'm in Wyoming, healing, pulling all the pieces together."
- 8
He Claims He Didn't Feed Pusha-T Information for Drake Diss
Kanye dismissed rumors that he shared private information with Pusha for "The Story of Adidon," which accused Drake of using his newborn son to sell Adidas shoes. "I'm Ye," he said. "I got major things to do other than be telling him some information about Drake."
- 9
Kanye Plans to Build a School
In an aside, Yeezy mentioned that he recently purchased 300 acres of land for $7 million and plans to purchase a thousand-acre site, where he hopes to build a school. "I am buying America and making it mine, the land of the free," he said.
- 10
Kanye Received Media Training After His Slavery Comment
West revealed that he met with a media trainer after his TMZ comment about slavery, but he disagreed with her lessons. "You just here getting paid to tell me how to talk like everybody else," he recalled thinking.