14 DAY TRIAL // Kanye West isn’t just a rapper, a producer and a fashion designer. He’s an artist and a genius, he’s the man humanity has been waiting for all along, to take beauty from the hands of the few and hand it back over to the masses, without overpricing it.
Laugh as you will, but this pretty much sums up Kanye’s lecture at Oxford, which was put together by the Chairman of the Oxford Union Guild and was live-tweeted by The Oxford Tab. Apparently, getting him on board required many hours’ worth of negotiations.
Kanye West does Kanye West, as expected
Kanye met with students, faculty and journalists at Oxford to practically talk about the amazingness of being Kanye West, from what we can infer from The Oxford Tab’s tweets, some of which you will also find available below.
Those with profanity have been left out, but that’s the only reason for not including them: they were just as amazing, over the top and hilarious as the clean ones.
Kanye spoke about his career, his music and his “magnum opus,” “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” which he claimed was the best rap album released in the last 25 years, his fashion endeavors and racism. We can’t make fun of him on that last account, because he makes a valid point and he means very well.
He also spoke about being persecuted and not allowed to be as awesome as he can be, about wanting to be better than Picasso if he had the chance to go back to his college years, and his reputation as a giant tantrum-throwing douche.
Apparently, Kanye would love if the Nobel Prize also got an awards show. Maybe he’s hoping he could hijack it to say that Beyonce should have won.
Kanye on music and fashion
Kanye is awfully proud of his “Fantasy” album, and according to fans and critics, he has every reason to be so because that one is truly a work of art. Kanye takes this even farther, saying that “everyone” agreed that he delivered the most solid album in the last quarter of a century.
And then he says he’s happy he managed to ditch his massive ego, because it always caused problems for him.
He does, however, have very nice things to say about Nicki Minaj, who, he explains, stole his thunder on the same album with her verse on the track “Monster.” She beat him at his own game, on his own material.
As for his fashion endeavors, which recently materialized in a collaboration with Adidas Originals, Kanye stresses that his goal is to make fashion accessible for everyone, because beauty should never be a luxury.
Kanye is nothing if not a champion of the people. Even when he’s wearing a $2,000 (€1,797) shirt.
"If I could have done it again I would have gone to the art institute over the american academy" #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"That always sounds so funny to people, comparing yourself to someone who has done so much, and that’s a mentality that suppresses humanity"
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"We have the resources as a civilisation to make a utopia, but we’re led by the most greedy and the least noble" #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"I don’t think there’s a living celebrity with more weapons formed against him, but I don’t think there’s one more prosperous." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"Obama calls the home phone, by the way." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"I’m assuming I’m probably wearing a $2000 shirt but I got it for free from the designer so" #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"People ask me how my daughter is doing. She’s only doing good if your daughter’s doing good. We’re all one family." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"We have the ability to approach our race like ants, or we have the ability to approach our race like crabs." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"White people that listen to rap say nigger. In the privacy of their own home." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"We’ve had Cosby Show, Obama’s president, Beyonce’s great…that’s passed. But you’re still taught the division by class, especially in UK."
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"They need to do award shows for Nobel Peace Prize, but I guess that doesn’t sell as many MasterCard ads." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"Chris Rock & everyone else at every single media publication called My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the best album of the last 25 years."
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"One of my biggest achilles heels has beanery ego. And if I, Kanye West, can remove my ego, I think there’s hope for everyone." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"People say I’ve got a bad reputation. I think I’ve got the best reputation in the building." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"Beauty has been stolen from the people and is being sold back to them as luxury."#YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015
"Clothing should be like food. There should never be a $5000 sweater. You know what should cost $5000? A car." #YeezOx
— The Tab Oxford (@TheTabOxford) March 2, 2015