Kanye West

Songwriter: Kanye West

I'd rather just let the music speak for itself. You know, it's like, I was happy to be in a situation where people couldn't say, oh, I was trying to promote my own song. For the times that I've, like, defended myself... [Tape break] I'm pushing the envelope! I wrote my fuckin' 'Run This Town' verse for a fuckin' month! When I heard Eminem's verse on the Drake shit, I went back and rewrote my shit for two days. I canceled appointments to rewrite! I fuckin' care! You know what I'm saying? And that's what I'm saying. Because I did that, Taylor Swift cannot win over Beyoncé! Because I wrote my verse in two days, Taylor Swift cannot beat Beyoncé. As long as I'm alive! And if I'm alive, kill me then! Kill me then! As long as I'm alive, you gon' have to deal with it. Cause there ain't gonna be no more motherfucking Elvises with no James Browns.

[A female voice asks, "Why are you so angry? What's the anger?"] Because my mother got arrested for the fuckin' sit-ins. My mother died for this fame shit! I moved to fuckin' Hollywood chasing this shit. My mother died because of this shit. Fuck MTV.

It ain't no love. What the fuck was Pink performing? Don't nobody know that song. Pink performed twice! Two songs? How the fuck Pink perform twice, and I didn't even get asked to perform "Heartless." "Heartless" is the biggest song of the year! It had the most spins of the first quarter! I don't know that Pink song! But I noticed that she's pink! They put me in a fuckin' room and [inaudible - maybe "projected it"].

[A male voice asks, "How the fuck did Eminem get the Best Hip-Hop song in 2008?"] Eminem won Best Video! Rap Video! Yo, when he won that shit, I was so happy. I was so happy I [unclear - "ran all this shit," maybe]. I said, "Nigga, I'm gon' do this until y'all put a bullet in my head. I'm runnin' up to y'all, put a..." [tape cuts].

The ubiquitous Kanye West—from his famous quip, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” to “I'ma let you finish,” to marrying Kim Kardashian, to announcing that he’s running for President, and admitting his love for President Trump—you can see that he’s a staple of the tabloids and the entertainment world, industry-wide.

That certainly doesn’t take anything away from his music; as a matter of fact, it only seems to add to his fortuitous career. For instance, his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was universally praised by fans and critics alike; it was recorded during the backlash he received from the Swift interruption and during his break-up with then-girlfriend Amber Rose.

He has scored other well-known hits, as well, from each of his previous studio albums—such as “Stronger,” “Heartless,” and “Gold Digger.” Each of his albums has been massive critical and commercial successes, including his collaboration album with JAY-Z, Watch the Throne. As of 2020, West has won an astounding 21 Grammys, tied with JAY-Z as the most decorated hip-hop artist in Grammy history.

more tracks from the album

Kanye West’s Visionary Streams of Consciousness

From the album

Kanye West’s Visionary Streams of Consciousness

Kanye West popular songs

On the 2009 VMAsKanye West

Kanye West

Kanye West’s Visionary Streams of Consciousness