Kanye West sat down with Vanity Fair recently to discuss his fashion line, Yeezy Season 2, which premiered last week during New York Fashion Week. Amid the discussion about his muted color palette and the possibility of a Yeezy store (“The only concrete plan is that I plan to use concrete”), West offered a few updates on his forthcoming seventh album.
When asked why he chose his new track “Fade” to soundtrack the runway show, he said he thought the fans watching the show’s live stream in 40 movie theaters around the world would “be happy to hear some new music.” He went on to say of the new album, “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.” When asked to elaborate if that meant the LP was still a year away, West responded, “I’m not sure. I’m not worried about the years. I’m worried about the life and the body of work that I can put out while I’m breathing.”
Returning to the topic at the end of the interview, West implied that the album’s current title, SWISH, may not be the final one. “It’s currently called SWISH. I’m forgetting even what the last name of it was now,” he said, referring to the Yeezus follow-up’s original name, So Help Me God.
Elsewhere in the discussion, West confirmed that he’s “definitely” considering running for president in 2020, as he announced during this year’s VMAs. Unfortunately, in the same breath, he may have stepped into his first political hotspot when he praised Republican candidate Ben Carson (you know, the guy who believes homosexuality is a choice, Obama’s America is like Nazi Germany, and said Obamacare was the worst thing “since slavery” and worse than 9/11) as “the most brilliant guy.”
“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.”
West does seem to have pure intentions when it comes to running for office, though, as he said his goal is to “become the person that Donda and Raymond West raised.” He also said he wasn’t surprised by the relatively positive reaction to his announcement, as he believes people have seen him become more mature in recent years.
“Especially from the six years of this misconception or the six years I went through of ‘We don’t like Kanye.’ 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. My dad has two masters degrees. My mom has a PhD, she used to work at Operation PUSH. Somehow the more and more creative I get, the closer and closer I get to who I was as a child. When I was a child, I was holding my mom’s hand at Operation PUSH. I think it’s time.”
