Last year when Kanye West headlined Glastonbury he covered Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody messing up the words in front of a huge audience and now, more than a year after, he’s spoken out about the event.
In a snippet of an interview with Radio 1‘s Annie Mac (via Stereogum) due to air today in the UK, Kanye said that having to restart Black Skinhead after comedian Lee Nelson interrupted the performance made him incredibly nervous.
“It was incredible. I started off the show and I completely messed up the music. And me, as you can imagine by this phone call, I’m a bit of a perfectionist,” he said.
“So it really put me into a slightly depressed state, and it put me back in the position of when I was in high school and I got fired from my job, or when I played my music for R Kelly and he told me he was going to sign me, and then three months later I didn’t have any money, I couldn’t afford a haircut, I couldn’t take my girlfriend to the movies and I’m still in my momma’s bedroom, working on beats, and I was that close to being signed by R Kelly.”
Yeezy further explained that it “tapped” into his nerves, however, he maintained, “when you’re nervous or vulnerable, something special and something different can happen.”
Every Kanye interview ends up being a quotable affair but this one hasn’t even been aired yet and there are already several notable tidbits that have leaked.
On top of the Glasto talk, he said that he’s working on making a $30 shoe with Adidas which would be their cheapest ever and also wants to design a “minimalist apartment inside of a college dorm where the TV goes on the side of the wall” for IKEA.
Also for the first time since he announced his intentions to run for President in 2020, he’s spoken more about without confirming or denying it. Rather he spoke about it in the context of police brutality, an issue that he says we are “numb” to.
“We’re numb to 500 kids getting killed in Chicago a year, we’re numb to the fact that it was seven police shootings in the beginning of July … we’re numb to places on the earth that we don’t live – like our life is okay but it’s okay for other people’s lives to not be okay,” he said.
“When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views, I don’t have views on politics, I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth. If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day, to somehow make a difference while I’m alive I’m going to try to do it.”
The entire interview is due to air on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show tonight in the UK which means it should be with us by the time we wake tomorrow. He may also debut new music on the show as the website says he will “supply the Hottest Record”. The “Hottest Record” on Annie Mac’s show is typically a premiere. We’ll have to wait and see.
Watch: Kanye West – Famous
