Rapper/producer/singer Kanye West graces the cover of the latest issue of Complex Magazine (April/May 2009). The concept of this digital photo shoot is definitely original. We have never seen it before and apparently it was Kanye’s idea, which was directed by Chris Milk and developed by the Graphics Lab at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. The end result is impressive, I love it… this makes Photoshop look cheap!!
Kanye talks about his unique sense of style, rumors he is gay and his egomaniac behavior in what has been considered the rapper’s most self-critical interview. Here are some highlights from Kanye West’s Complex Magazine interview:
On how the recession is affecting him: “I try to avoid it overly affecting me. But some sh*t has happened, like Best Buy was supposed to [shoot and produce] the tour DVD and they pulled out of it. I definitely got hit with that, because not shooting it was not an option, so I had to pay for it.”
On his wild fashion sense: “When I have a pink watch on or tight jeans on, people talk sh*t about me, but if I wore all gray and black, who would be the one to wear all the bright colors? How depressing would it be if I was always depressed, or should I say, the press. I’m here to entertain people and to be the one that does the crazy, bold stuff so they can live through me and get their mind off the recession and the war and whatever else is going on in the world.”
On rumors that he is gay: “I really think it’s because society tries to dictate the way a guy is supposed to dress and the way a guy is supposed to act, and I refuse to conform. A lot of these dudes would never be accused of being gay just because they all look exactly alike. If people could just realize the amount of mundaneness and followers that lack creativity… I think people’s mentality is like, Only gay people are that creative.” And it’s true there are a lot of gay people who are incredible creative minds, but there are straight people who are incredible creative minds—and there’s gay people who can’t dress or create at all, too. Closed-minded gay people probably say they dress “straight.”
On what he has learned over the past year: “That I can be a very level-headed person. I would never spaz on MTV the way I did before. I feel like there are people who have given a lot to me and I wasn’t appreciative of them. MTV had a major part in making me, so how the hell could I ever come out my mouth and dis them and just be like the cry baby–ass b*tch over one performance? How the hell is a 29-year-old grown-ass man acting like a little b*tch and getting all emotional? How spoiled can I get?”
On the “Kanye West” brand: “Pop but Luxury. Edgy but Comfortable. I’m about clashing worlds that you think don’t belong together. This is our world and everything belongs together. That’s the ill thing about our president. Our president is black, but our president is white, too. And the original struggle of America is racism, and to have someone in office that represents both of those sides is what I think this world is about. Segregation and snobbery and elitism should be the wack words. That should be what people use to diss people.”
[images: Complex]
