Kanye West Quotes

Black people can be the most conservative, the most discriminating. Especially among ourselves. It wasn't white people who said all black men have to wear baggy jeans.

I will die for the art & what I believe in. The art ain't always gon' be polite.

Only One

[Intro]
As I lay me down to sleep
I hear her speak to me

[Verse 1]
Hello 'Mari, how ya doin'?
I think the storm ran out of rain, the clouds are moving
I know you're happy, cause I can see it
So tell the voice inside ya' head to believe it
I talked to God about you, he said he sent you an angel
And look at all that he gave you
You asked for one and you got two
You know I never left you
Cause every road that leads to heaven's right inside you
So I can say

[Hook 1]
Hello my only one, just like the morning sun
You'll keep on rising till the sky knows your name
Hello my only one, remember who you are
No you're not perfect but you're not your mistakes

[Verse 2]
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Oh the good outweighs the bad even on your worst day
Remember how I'd say
Hey hey one day you'll be the man you always knew you could be
And if you knew how proud I was
You'd never shed a tear, have a fear, no you wouldn't do that
And though I didn't pick the day to turn the page
I know it's not the end every time I see her face, and I hear you say

[Hook 2]
Hello my only one, remember who you are
You got the world cause you got love in your hands
And you're still my chosen one
So can you understand? One day you'll understand

[Bridge]
So hear me out, hear me out
I won't go, I won't go

If I do become more successful, either as a producer or a rapper, I'm going to do everything I can to help whoever I can on the label.

Man ... ninjas are kind of cool ... I just don't know any personally.

I believe in myself like a five-year-old believes in himself. They say look at me, look at me! Then they do a flip in the backyard. It won't even be that amazing, but everyone will be clapping for them.

Because when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in their face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you're disrespectful to inspiration, and we as musicians have to inspire people who go to work every day, and they listen to that Beyonce album and they feel like it takes them to another place.

Nothing in life is promised except death.

Bravery and courage is walking into pain and knowing that something better is on the other side

The same people that tell me what I ought to have is the same people asking for an autograph.

No one is looking at what President Obama is wearing. Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a bikini pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day ...

I completely lost everything, but I gained everything because I lost the fear.

Let the music defuse all the tension.

I wonder ... would you rather have 100 from an average person or 10 from someone who is outstanding

I can always tell if a band has a British rhythm section due to the gritty production.

Never stop fighting no matter what anyone says. If it's in your gut, your soul, there's nothing, no worldly possession that should come between you and your expression.

I go all the way back to the Hot Boys days and being 13, listening to this dude. Just remembering the staple he put on the game back then all the way to now, to have that longevity years beyond it. So for him to actually acknowledge what I'm doing right now and seeing it as a path, the same way the longevity he created, it's a great feeling to actually share that same stage and a moment with him. Wayne ain't no new jack to this game. He influenced a lot of styles and a lot of sounds. I would say I was influenced by a recent sound and flow, and cadence that he brung to the game.

George Bush doesn't care about black people.

I don't have one regret.

Let's have a toast for the douchebags,
Let's have a toast for the assholes,
Let's have a toast for the scumbags,
Every one of them that I know
Let's have a toast to the jerkoffs
That'll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can

They say, he must had an angel, cuss look how death missed his ass. Unbreakable, what you thought they'd call me Mr. Glass?

I have this table in my new house. They put this table in without asking. It was some weird nouveau riche marble table, and I hated it. But it was literally so heavy that it took a crane to move it. We would try to set up different things around it, but it never really worked. I realized that table was my ego. No matter what you put around it, under it, no matter who photographed it, the douchebaggery would always come through.

Nobody's gonna be bigger than Eminem.

We all self-conscious. I'm just the first to admit it.

I'm gonna sit here on this runway until I'm at the end of it. Because that's that thing that people slave over. That's that thing that people are slaves to. That's that thing that I'm a slave to.

That's very cool. Well, that's great. If I were to cater to Kanye, he would know that I'm catering to him. The fact that I make what I make-he gets it. He gets the quality and he respects it. And I think that's the key, why I work all the time is to do that. That's the fun.

I hope we don't see no paparazzi today. Because I'm still getting acquainted with these jogging pants I threw on. Like, 'That's not my statement!'

I've known my mom since I was zero years old. She is quite dope.

The dinosaurs are remember only by their bones. What will we be remembered for with humanity?

I'm putting my life at risk, literally! And if I slipped ... You never know. And I think about it. I think about my family and I'm like, wow, this is like being a police officer or something, in war or something.

I'm a minimalist in a rapper's body.

As a man I am flawed, but my music is perfect.

We buy our way out of jail but we can't buy freedom,
We buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need them,
Things we buy to cover up what's inside.

Life is a b*tch depending how you dress her.

I just think that when my confidence meets other people's insecurity, that equals Kanye's arrogant.

You want to be upper class, you want to be first class, but when the plane crash, everybody dead,

This album is moments that I haven't done before, like just my voice and drums. What people call a rant - but put it next to just a drumbeat, and it cuts to the level of, like, Run-D.M.C. or KRS-One.

Fusion is the future. The mixing of ideas. The two lunch tables working together. Humanity ... we're 1 people.

The bathrooms - that usually would be a porta-potty - were wrapped in a fabric that was neutral to match the fort ... the same materials that were used to cover the bathroom, we said, 'Let's just use that [to cover a bar at the reception], because this is all we have to make the bar look better.' Which it did, in the end.

It's crazy that we live in a world where if your super positive and super creative ... it's scary. Because what does that tell you about the mentality of most people if your scared of like ... positivity.

People asked me to change my name for [808s] ... I think the fact that I can't sing that well is what makes "808s" so special.

50 told me go head and switch the style up and if they hate, let 'em hate, watch the money pile up.

Now that you're gone, it hit us, super hard on Thanksgiving and Chrismas, this can't be right, yo you heard the track I did called this can't be life

I don't know what's better: getting laid or getting paid.
I just know when I'm getting one, the other's getting away.

Cause I want to be on 106 and Park pushing a benz

Every time I crash the Internet, it's like this little drop of truth. Every time I say something that's extremely truthful out loud, it literally breaks the Internet. So what are we getting all of the rest of the time?

Everyone's always telling you to be humble. When was the last time someone told you to be great?

If your job is inspiration you have to go at it at all costs.

One of my biggest Achilles' heels has been my ego. And if I, Kanye West, the very person, can remove my ego, I think there's hope for everyone.

I'm really happy I'm me because if I wasn't I'd be scared. If you want that Number One spot you need to listen to my album and try to beat it.

If you're taught you can't do anything you won't do anything, I was taught I could do everything

I gotta new strategy it's called no strategy. And I gotta way to sell more music its called make better music.

I wake up every day trying to give something back to you that you can rock to and be proud of.

We gonna touch the sky

There's leaders, and there's followers ... but I'd rather be a d*ck than a swallower

I could never be in a situation with a job where I was not allowed to listen to music all day. I would rather work at a fast food restaurant where I could turn on the radio all day rather than be in a situation where I have to sneak and listen to music.

Both this song ['Black Skinhead'], 'I Am a God' and this song were made after Hedi Slimane didn't let me into his first Saint Laurent show.

I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven, when I awoke, I spent that on a NECKLACE ...

I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I'M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE.

If I don't win, the award show loses credibility.

Have you ever had sex with a Pharaoh?
I put the pussy in a sarcophagus

I feel like I'm too busy writing history to read it.

I'm Kan, the Louis Vouitton don / Bought my mom purse, now she Louis Vuitton mom / I didn't play the hand I was dealt I changed my cards / I prayed to the skies and I changed my stars / I went to the malls and I balled too hard / Oh My God is that a Black card / I turned around and replied why yes, but I prefer the term African American Express

Love your haters - they're your biggest fans

Shoot for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud.

I could still do a suit, I just wouldn't have done that exact lapel situation.

You're not perfect, but you're not your mistakes.

I don't even listen to rap. My apartment is too nice to listen to rap in.

My attitude is tattooed that means it's permanent

50 is Eminem's favourite rapper ... I'm my favourite rapper.

I know I got to be right now Cause I can't get much wronger

If you know you're the best it only makes sense for you to surround yourself with the best. NO EXCEPTIONS

I know I got angels watchin me from the other side.

I think there are school teachers who are on the exact same mission as me.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and the internet is our new Rome

I ain't crazy, I'm just not satisfied.

This is my life homie, you decide yours

Brands are selling our self-esteem back to us, through association. We need to own our brands.

If you talking 'bout classics, do my name get brought up?

I'm never at my worst because even at my lowest, its a learning experience. It's something that I'll bounce ideas off. I can take negatives and flip them to positives at all times.

I try to get as close to a childlike level as possible because we were all artists back then.

Money is not my definition of success; inspiring people is the definition of success.

Nothing is promised in life except death.

I'm not comfortable with comfort. I'm only comfortable when I'm in a place where I'm constantly learning and growing.

Taking 1,000 meetings attempting to get backing to do clothing ...

I'm a heaven sent instrument. My rhythmatic regimen navigates melodic notes for your soul and your mental. That's why I'm instrumental, vibrations is what I'm into.

And I can't even go to the grocery store without some ones that's clean and a shirt with a team/It seems we living the American dream but people highest up got the lowest self esteem/The prettiest people do the ugliest things for the road to riches and diamond rings.

So I can go and let out everything that I feel about every bogus weekly cover, every single bogus skit, every single rumor and barber shop-everything that people feel is ok to treat celebrities like zoo animals, or act like what they're saying is not serious, or their lives are not serious or their dreams are not serious.

Maybe 90 percent of the time it looks like I'm not having a good time.

The creatives, they want to connect with people. These artists, the clothing designers, they want to connect with people the same way that music gets to connect with people. But the cost of silk is too expensive. And they won't lower their quality levels. So I can spend $2 million on a record and give it out in a democratic way. They could spend all their time making the greatest dress in the world, and it's just impossible to hand-make that many.

People ask me a lot about my drive. I think it comes from, like, having a sexual addiction at a really young age. Look at the drive that people have to get sex - to dress like this and get a haircut and be in the club in the freezing cold at 3 A.M., the places they go to pick up a girl. If you can focus the energy into something valuable, put that into work ethic

People say it takes a village to raise a child. People ask me how my daughter is doing. She's only doing good if your daughter's doing good. We're all one family.

I'm living three dreams:
Biggie Smalls', Dr. King, Rodney King's.
Cause we can't get along, no resolution?
'Til we drown all these haters ...
Rest in peace to Whitney Houston

The plan was,we drink untill the pain is over but whats worse,the pain or the hangover?

It's only led me to complete awesomeness at all times. It's only led me to awesome truth and awesomeness. Beauty, truth, awesomeness. That's all it is.

Whether I'm at a dinner with Anna Wintour or a listening party with Pusha T or in Rome with Virgil (Abloh, his style adviser) giving Fendi our designs and getting them knocked down ... we brought the leather jogging pants six years ago to Fendi, and they said no. How many m*****f***ers you done seen with a leather jogging pant?

I just close my eyes and act like I'm a 3-year-old. I try to get as close to a childlike level as possible because we were all artists back then. So you just close your eyes and think back to when you were as young as you can remember and had the least barriers to your creativity.

To be a visionary, all you have to do is make decisions based off of your eyes instead of your ears and your memory.

Why not start figuring out ways to change the way we treat each other? The way we talk to each other, the way we talk about each other. To love each other. You know it starts off with self-love. We have to love ourselves before we can love anybody else.

And the media from day one, from when you were little ass kids, they teach you not to love yourself. They take something out of you and they try to sell it back to you...Something that you've been fighting for your entire life that's taken from you as a child. That you always had inside of you. That's self-love.

That's why I love you so much, cause as everybody knows, I love me so much.

I want to dress like a child as much as possible.