Kanye West Talks Jesus Portrayal, 'White' Voice, & Illuminati
Whether it’s his in-depth interview with Zane Lowe or his showdown with Jimmy Kimmel, Kanye West knows how to make headlines. Just hours before his engagement to Kim Kardashian, the outspoken rapper sat down for an interview with WiLD 94.9’s “The JV Show” in San Francisco.
Fresh off the launch of his “Yeezus Tour,” he spoke out about his controversial portrayal of Jesus at his concerts, his “white” voice, and even the Illuminati.
Hear what ‘Ye had to say in the interview below.
On bringing Jesus on tour with him: “I had a friend of mine that’s a pastor there as we started discussing how we wanted to deliver it. My girl even asked afterwards, ‘Hmm, is that weird if Jesus comes on stage?’ No, we do plays all the time where people play Jesus. You know what’s awesome about Christianity is we’re allowed to portray God. We’re allowed to draw an image of him, we’re allowed to make movies about him. Other religions you’re not allowed to do that.”
On the message behind his religious theatrics: “It’s a painting, it’s a sculpture, it’s a moving opera, it’s a play, it’s a message. I’m not gonna even do any comparisons with that ’cause God knows where my heart is at. One of the things that I wanted to really get across with that message is that you can have a relationship with Jesus, that you can talk to Jesus.”
On his relationship with Jesus: “I’m a performance artist, I’m a believer, and I think if anytime the word Jesus can be used more in our lives, I believe it’s a good thing. With my heroes, people wanna be like Mike. I wanna be like Christ.”
On the Illuminati: “It’s a sexy word. We could make a cologne out of it or something. There’s only two things on my mind when I create, God and Jesus.”
On his “white” voice: “It was a classist move that even when you get invited to certain dinner parties or even when you’re in certain magazines it’s still like a Dinner for Schmucks situation. Are they inviting you to be a part of what you’re doing or are they inviting you to laugh at your teeth? And ask you a million questions like, ‘Oh, those are cool teeth.’ And then we have our thing that every time we do it, we give ’em the white voice. It goes both ways, but we’re right now in a crash of the classes. America, being the newest country, and especially out here in San Francisco, where people can just became a billionaire off an idea, and the amount of information you get on the Internet and that people can educate themselves, the shift is gonna change. I think that I’m one of the people at the forefront because I had to fight to get into fashion shows eight years ago.”