I’ve prefaced every Kanye West story the same way for years now: Kanye West has been cancelled. He was cancelled long ago. I know he has legitimate mental illnesses and I know that every now and then, he’ll actually say something interesting or true. But I just can’t, and I know I’m not alone. I’ve always maintained that, despite being cancelled, I’ll cover Kanye when he does something notable or gossip-worthy though. That’s my job. And so it was with a heavy heart that I walked into Kanye’s May cover story for GQ. I get that we’re all on lockdown and we truly have the time to sit here and shift through all of his bullsh-t, but about halfway through this GQ piece, I was like “life’s too f–king short.” You can try to read it here if you want.

I’ll try to summarize the half that I read: Kanye is sad about Kobe Bryant. Kanye believes he is the biggest genius to ever dome. Dome Lyfe is a real thing and he basically is trying to reinvent dome living, dome worship, dome lifestyle. He is building a huge dome on the huge property he bought in Cody, Wyoming. The property was Monster Lake Ranch, and now it’s West Lake Ranch. He’s got sheep, and he’s going to use the ranch sheep wool for his Yeezy clothes. He thinks the dome he’s building in Cody will be “a paradigm shift for humanity.” He’s been working with European architects to reinvent domes, and I’m 100% positive that when the dome is eventually built (six years from now), it will be a sparse, off-white, furniture-free space devoid of personality which will serve as his pulpit and manufacturing center and probably his home too. My brain hurts. So, what else does he say beyond the Dome Talk? Some sh-t.

On words: “I think words are one of our lowest forms of communication. Music, sound, food, dancing are nonverbal forms of communication. We get so wrapped up into words. We got to make things that are speechless. We have to make things that leave people speechless. We have to make things to the level where no one can say anything.

Acting normal: “You know what normal is to me? An act. I can act normal, and that’s me as Clark Kent. But artists are people who have embraced themselves as a superhero.

Why he wore the MAGA hat: “Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn’t drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn’t eat from. They didn’t fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on.”

On slavery: “What do you want me to say? This is America. One in three African Americans are enslaved, and we go more crazy if, you know, someone scores a touchdown. Modern-day mass incarceration is right in front of us, and if I even use the word slavery, I’m treated like I’m a white person talking about slavery. I remember when I became a billionaire I was told not to say out loud that I was a billionaire. What? What is the point of being a billionaire if you can’t even say it out loud? We’re not completely free yet.

On George Bush & black people: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” is a victim statement. This white person didn’t do something for us. That is stemmed in victim mentality. Every day I have to look in the mirror like I’m Robert De Niro and tell myself, “You are not a slave.” As outspoken as I am, and the position that I am in, I need to tell myself.

How he could do the Bush statement & end up a Trump supporter: “Black people are controlled by emotions through the media. The media puts musicians, artists, celebrities, actors in a position to be the face of the race, that really don’t have any power and really are just working for white people. When it’s said like that, it’s kind of obvious, right? We emotionally connect to someone of our color on TV and feel that this person is speaking for us. So let me say this: I am the founder of a $4 billion organization, one of the most Google-searched brands on the planet, and I will not be told who I’m gonna vote on because of my color.

He thinks America is better now than under Obama? “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.

He’s voting for Trump: “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?

[From GQ]

My head hurts from finding these quotes. My garbage take on this is that Kanye thinks that he’s being incredibly deep and profound when really he just believes that “being next-level contrarian” is some kind of signal that he’s evolved. He’s a really dumb, ill person trying to “act smart.” And that’s all I feel like saying.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of GQ.