The Incredibles: Kanye West

1. KANYE WEST (Musician/Producer)

What were you doing five years ago?
Trying my best to get on. Selling beats to people who could come up with the money — $500 here, $1,500 there. Not really enough to pay rent some months.

Could you envision the kind of success you’re enjoying today?
Back then I was more or less delusional, walking into record companies shouting “I’m gonna be bigger than Michael Jackson!” But yeah, God definitely had a plan for me. When I was starting off in Chicago, I wanted to be considered the best Chicago producer. Then when I was the best producer in Chicago, I wanted to get to the Jermaine Dupri level. Now I’ve gotten to that level, but there’s always other frontiers. You know, the Quincy Jones level. It’s not blasphemous to say, “I want to make an album better than Songs in the Key of Life” or “I want to be a better producer than Quincy Jones.”

Maybe you should get together with Michael jackson and produce his comeback album.
Yeah, I’ve heard rumors of that.

Would you do it?
Ummm … I don’t know. I mean, I’m not going to say no to Michael Jackson.

You must approach your work a bit differently now that you’re so big.
At the end of the day I think of myself as a pop artist, like Takashi Murakami or Andy Warhol, who sample pop culture and put their twist on it. On the other hand, because I want to be a really credible musician and producer, I have to come with songs that really work, which is hard sometimes. “Gold Digger” was right on that cusp. There was a time I was unsure about it.

“Gold Digger”? Really? Did you think that the beat with the big Ray Charles sample was too obvious?
I mean, yeah, it was a little obvious. But when A-Trak put the scratch on it, I said, “OK, this is real hip-hop.” 

What do you think of hip-hop nowadays?
There are fewer good albums coming out now. That’s a scientific fact. There used to be 10 good albums coming from one borough. Now you’re lucky to get 10 good albums from one state or whatever. I particularly love Atlanta hip-hop right now. Snap music. It brings it back to where hip-hop comes from: drums, bass, lyrics. And my favorite rapper these days is Lil Wayne. That’d be fresh if you put that in the interview. 

You seemed to take in stride losing the big awards at this year’s Grammys. But did you freak out afterwards? Throw a deli tray? Fire somebody?
I was kind of grateful, actually, because it gives me something else to do. When I was making Late Registration I used to tell [co-producer] Jon Brion, “Yo, get ready to win Album of the Year, we’re gonna win Album of the Year.” And now that it didn’t happen — it’s like, “OK, let’s get back to the studio.” And since my album’s not gonna drop this year, I’m going to try to make sure that Common wins Rap Album of the Year next time.

You’re working on a Common record now, right?
Yeah. Beat-wise, about half of it’s finished.

And …?
Aw, man. If I can make the first actual Kanye statement of this interview, it’s so clearly going to annihilate everything in its path. It will strike fear in listeners. For me, someone with a meek personality, walking around with his pink Polos — I mean, I come to the studio and I feel like a complete monster, like Mike Tyson. I’m here to straight rip people’s heads off. I do this shit with a vengeance. I put out a song and I say to myself: “Pharrell, you hear that?” As far as producing goes, I’m always trying to impress Andre 3000 and Pharrell. And as far as rapping goes, I’m always trying to impress Jay-Z.

So when is the next Kanye West album coming?
Maybe next spring. Now I’m writing on some remixes, getting back in the zone. Have you heard the Ghostface song “Back Like That”? I did a remix of that. On that I say [starts rapping]: “Quince told me it’ll be OK/I’m so sick like Ne-Yo say/I’m laid back like neo-soul/I holler back at this creole ho/… She never told me n-o, so/We hit the spot to chill, with the Fuki grill/She ordered Kobe beef like Shaquille O’Neal/Second I stepped in, the whole room gets still/I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal …”

Those are a few good bars, there.
I mean, I hit them with a line from Anchorman! “I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal.” Anchorman? Shit. And: “She ordered Kobe beef like Shaquille O’Neal”? That has to be the line of the year!



Number 2: Conor Oberst


Number 3: Simon Fuller


Number 4: Billie Joe Armstrong


Number 5: Mariah Carey