Kanye West has revealed that he is sick of the notion that celebrities are controlling society as members of the secret group The Illuminati, in an essay that he penned for Paper magazine's American Dream issue.
Less than a year after his wife Kim Kardashian posed nude for the magazine, the 37-year-old rapper stars on Paper's latest cover, donning a grey sweatshirt from his collection for Adidas and a necklace featuring his daughter North's nickname, Nori. In the April issue, Kayne explained his 'world dream' and noted that if there was an actual Illuminati, 'it would be more like the energy companies' - not Hollywood stars.
'I am tired of people pinpointing musicians as the Illuminati. That's ridiculous,' he said. 'We don’t run anything; we’re celebrities. We’re the face of brands.'
After it was announced last month that Kanye, Madonna, Beyonce and other famous musicians were all co-owners of Jay Z’s new Tidal streaming service, rumors began to swirl online that everyone involved in the project is a member of the the top-secret Illuminati, but Kanye noted that musicians don't have that kind of power.
He explained that celebrities don't even get the freedom to say and do exactly what they want, let alone 'run anything': 'We have to compromise what we say in lyrics so we don’t lose money on a contract.
'Madonna is in her 50s and gave everything she had to go up on an award show and get choked by her cape,' Kanye added, referencing Madonna's recent fall at the Brit Awards in February. He went on to say that the 56-year-old legend even gets 'judged for who she adopts', adding: 'F*** all of this sensationalism.'
On the subject of children, the rapper said we should be thankful that we can raise kids, before noting that we should be trying to bring them up in a 'truthful world', not one that is 'based on brand and concepts of perception'.
'When I look in North’s eyes, I’m happy about every mistake I’ve ever made,' the father-of-one said. 'I’m happy that I fought to bring some type of reality to this world we choose to stay in right now, driven by brands and corporations.'
In addition to striving to bring reality to the world, Kanye said that he is a proponent of people following their dreams, advocating that a 'little self-belief can go a long way'.
'I think the scariest thing about me is the fact that I just believe,' he said. 'I believe awesome is possible and I believe that beauty is important.'
And while Kanye said that beauty is 'undermined by our current corporate culture', he added that he also sees money as something that is 'equally important' - even though 'artists have been brainwashed to look at it as a bad thing'.
Mentoring younger artists, such as Drake, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift, is of the utmost importance to Kanye because he said it will help 'make better music in the future'.
'It’s funny that I worked at the Gap in high school, because in my past 15 years it seems like that’s the place I stood in my creative path - to be the gap, the bridge,' he said.
Kanye also candidly discussed the fashion industry, saying that while he was grateful that his collection for Adidas - which was shown at New York Fashion Week in February - was 'accepted positively', he found an article that asked: ''Should Kanye leave fashion to the professionals?' to be posing an 'ignorant' question.
'The second I sell my first T-shirt or my first shoe, doesn’t that make me a professional?' he asked before saying he finds it 'funny to be so famous and noted for one thing, and to have so many people try to box you out of another form of art.'
When it comes to his love of fashion, Kanye explained he wants to be as close to as a kid as possible, because when children say that they like something, they aren't looking for a 'thumbs up' or a 'thumbs down', they are just sharing their admiration.
'Fashion is something that’s in my heart to do - in my spirit,' he said. 'There’s no world that can stop me from what I love. Not the rap world, not the fashion world, not the real world.'
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