Kanye West is Letting Us Inside his Empire for the May Editon of GQ Magazine

GQ magazine has announced its cover star for May and its non-other than rapper Kanye West. Back before we were all under lockdown, the men’s magazine spent days with Kanye for a candid discussion about his life in general.

During the interview, Kanye reflected on his life amid the coronavirus pandemic, which was just starting to hit the United States. He said:

Two days ago, I sat there in the atelier [in Calabasas] as we all talked about the virus, and just thought: If we were to not be here anymore, all I can think is, What a wonderful life it is. You think about those movies where the world is ending and I just simply thank God for life. Thank God for all these experiences.

Read highlights from the interview below:

On His Influence:

You get into a position and you become influential, and that becomes more of your goal rather than following your spirit and your anointing. So look, I’m not telling anybody who they should vote on, what they should wear, where they should live. I’m doing me. If you just so happen to catch a photograph of me doing me, that’s what I was doing! I’m not doing nobody else in the photograph.

On Kobe Bryant:

This is a game-changer for me. He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts! We got the commercials that prove it. No one else can say this. We came up at the same time, together. And now it’s like, yeah, I might have had a reputation for screaming about things–but I’m not taking any mess for an answer now. We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ’em. We bringing home the trophies.

On His Struggles With Alcohol:

People have called me a crazy person, people have called me everything — but not a functioning alcoholic. And I would be drinking orange juice and Grey Goose in the morning.

On His Real Estate Purchases:

I buy real estate. It’s better now than when Obama was in office. They don’t teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody’s property.”

On Voting In The Upcoming Election:

No, I’m definitely voting this time. And we know who I’m voting on. And I’m not going to be told by the people around me and the people that have their agenda that my career is going to be over. Because guess what: I’m still here! Jesus Is King was No. 1! I was told my career would end if I wasn’t with her. What kind of campaign is that, anyway? That’s like if Obama’s campaign was ‘I’m with black.’ What’s the point of being a celebrity if you can’t have an opinion? Everybody make their own opinion! You know?

Photo Credit: @Tylersphotos.