Kanye West has been at the focus of the media lately, perhaps more so than usual, because of his seemingly spur-of-the-moment announcement that he plans to run for President in 2020, as well as his NYFW show for Yeezy Season 2. The rapper took the time to speak to Vanity Fair about both those things, plus his forthcoming album SWISH.
The rapper revealed that the song he debuted during his NYFW, "Fade" featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Post Malone, had actually been a year and a half in the making. When asked about choosing that song specifically as his runway show backdrop, Ye said,
"We had a couple options and I just thought it sounded good against the people. For the 40 theaters across the globe, for the kids that all went to see it in theaters, I thought they’d be happy to hear some new music. I’ve been doing that [making a new album] too. That’s like a sonic landscape, a two-year painting. That song I played has been a year and a half in the making and it may be still a year from being complete. But it was to let people get a glimpse at the painting."
The important information to gleam from that quote, is the fact that SWISH could still be a year away from being complete.
When asked if he still planned to run in the presidential election in 2020, Kanye replied, "Oh, definitely," before elaborating further:
"And then as soon as I said that, it was like, “Wait a second, we would really be into that, because actually if you think about it, he’s extremely thoughtful. Every time he’s ever gotten in trouble, he was really jumping in front of a bullet for someone else. He’s probably the most honest celebrity that we have.” I didn’t approach that because I thought it would be fun. It wasn’t like, Oh, let’s go rent some jet skis in Hawaii. No, the exact opposite. I sit in clubs and I’m like, Wow, I’ve got five years before I go and run for office and I’ve got a lot of research to do, I’ve got a lot of growing up to do."
The interview ended with this, re: SWISH: "It’s currently called Swish. I’m forgetting even what the last name of it was now."
And a few more important quotes we culled from the interview:
1) "I think the entire fashion world at a certain point sort of looks at me and looks at my family as a child of theirs. Maybe not someone that completely grew up with them, but like an adopted child that came in, like a 17-year-old adoptee you know [Laughs]. But still nonetheless like an adopted child."
2) "I want everyone to win. When I run for president, I’d prefer not to run against someone. I would be like “I want to work with you.” As soon as I heard [Ben] Carson speak, I tried for three weeks to get on the phone with him. I was like this is the most brilliant guy. And I think all the people running right now have something that each of the others needs. But the idea of this separation and this gladiator battle takes away from the main focus that the world needs help and the world needs all the people in a position of power or influence to come together."
3) "I think sweatshirts are the way of the future...Sweatshirts are fucking important. That might sound like the funniest quote ever. How can you say all this stuff about running for president in 2020 and then say sweatshirts are important? But they are. Just mark my words. Mark my words like Mark Twain."
4) "A lot of times I feel like Will Ferrell in the movie "Elf." You know this big guy that wants to [join in] and his hands are a little bit too big. . . . I could just say please forgive me if I ever step on any toes, because there’s nothing that I would ever want to do or say that would take away from any designer, that would take away from anyone’s work or what they’re working so hard on."
Sounds like we have a way's to go before SWISH though, and the album name might change during the wait, but we'll keep you posted.
