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width="1" height="1" //divpIt seems longer than 18 months since I last spoke to Kanye West. So much
has happened in that time it must seem like a lifetime to him. Last summer he was putting the
finishing touches to his third album. Graduation was released on the same day as the latest album
by 50 Cent, then the best-selling hip-hop artist in the world, and they posed for the cover of
Rolling Stone as title fighters. West delivered a surprising knock-out blow, outselling Fiddy by
957,000 copies to 691,000 and topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic./ppHe has always
been a much more intriguing and complex, occasionally contradictory, proposition than his peers.
His background - born in Chicago, he's the son of a university professor and a former Black Panther
- and his 'Preppy' image set him apart from other urban artists. His steely ambition and drive is
such that he recorded his debut single 'Through The Wire' in hospital, with his mouth wired partly
shut, after a near-fatal car crash. He's notoriously arrogant, once claiming he'd be a leading
character in the Bible if it was rewritten: 'You don't think I would be one of the characters of
today's modern Bible?' He's as famous for his outbursts as he is for his music. When he didn't win
best video at the MTV European Awards in 2006 he stormed the stage, shouting 'Fuck this! My thing
cost a million dollars man ... /ppI had Pam Anderson, I was jumping across canyons and shit. If I
don't win, the award show loses ... credibility.' Even those who don't know his music will recall
him speaking out against the outgoing president, when he appeared on live TV for a Hurricane
Katrina benefit concert. West went off message and declared: 'George Bush doesn't care about black
people.'/ppFollowing earlier hits such as the Shirley Bassey-sampling 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone',
'Gold Digger' and 'Stronger' and an unrivalled succession of production credits for everyone from
Alicia Keys to Jay-Z, the success of Graduation put the multi-Grammy-winning, multi-million-selling
West right at the top of his game. Exactly where he told us he should be from day one. Then came
the double heartbreak. Or the 'Shakespearian tragedy' as he calls it. 'That's what this is,' he
tells me, 'it's a modern-day tragedy.'/ppAn only child (Kanye is Ethiopian for 'the only one'),
West was raised mainly by his doting mother Donda, who deemed him 'destined for greatness from an
early age'. A former chairwoman of Chicago State University's English Department, she later managed
her son's businesses and chaired the Kanye West Foundation. He called her his 'momager'. When I
spent six months with him on and off for Observer Music Monthly, she was rarely far from his side.
She was there at his 30th birthday party in Manhattan last June, there when he stole the show at
the Concert for Diana at Wembley in July 2007, and they turned out together in New York and London
for signings of her book, Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-hop Superstar. They
were as tight as a son and mother could be. He wrote a song for her called, 'Hey Mama'; and she
used it as the ringtone on her cellphone./ppOn Saturday 10 November 2007, Donda West died due to
complications from cosmetic surgery. Reports suggested another Beverly Hills physician had advised
her not to have the surgery. Kanye was in London when he heard and rushed back to the States. But
the following Saturday he was back on stage in Paris. When he started to introduce 'Hey Mama', he
cracked. 'This song is for my mother ... ' he started, before his voice faltered and he stood
alone, head bowed, sobbing in the spotlight, before being led off stage by members of his
band./ppJay-Z, Beyonceacute;, Pharrell Williams, Erykah Badu and others turned up to pay tribute at
Donda's funeral where West reportedly broke down as he gave a short speech. Two days later he was
back on stage at the O2 arena in London. On 10 January 2008, the Los Angeles County Coroner
concluded that Donda West died of 'coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due
to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty'./ppThen, in April, West split with his
fianceacute;e, designer Alexis Phifer. They had dated on and off since 2002, and were engaged in
Capri in August 2006. 'It's always sad when things like this end ... we remain friends,' Phifer
said. 'I wish him the best in his future and all of his endeavours. He's one of the most talented
people I've ever met.' An oddly worded statement that sounds more like a reference for an
ex-colleague than regret over the loss of a soulmate./ppWest, meanwhile, was embarking on his
global 'Glow In The Dark' tour. In Japan last year, before all the heartbreak, he had explained to
me how he had always struggled to set a mood that suited him in the studio until he tried putting
neon lights in there. 'Now I know my mood is neon ...' he said. 'I AM neon ... '/ppYou are neon? I
repeated/pp'I. Do. Glow. In. The. Dark.'/ppThe ambitious set placed West alone in the middle of the
stage, his band removed to a pit in front. If that were not prescient enough, the plot behind the
show's concept saw West marooned in space when his spaceship crashed./ppThe first proper indication
of where West's head was at, musically and emotionally, was his guest appearance on Young Jeezy's
single 'Put On', back in June. His voice cracked and distorted by Auto-Tune - a vocoder gadget
widely adopted in hip-hop recently (although OM readers may recall Cher using it on her 1998 number
one single, 'Believe'.) 'I lost the only girl in the world that know me best,' poured out West in a
cracked ephemeral pitch. 'I got the money and the fame and it don't mean shit ... man, the top is
so lonely.' His voice twisted and stretched like never before, he moaned 'I-I-I-I-I-I-'m so
lonely.'/ppAfter touring for six months through North America, South America and Asia, the Glow In
The Dark tour finally arrived in the UK this month. I flew out to Dublin to see the show before it
arrived in England. It's a hugely ambitious show, but the most poignant point came halfway through
when West, dripping with sweat and alone on stage expanded his 'Put On' verse into a long,
impassioned rant about the vacuousness of celebrity and the gaping chasm in his personal life. 'I
lost my mom, I lost my girl, I lost the only things that matter,' he spat, the words bouncing round
the huge venue and straight over the heads of the audience, 'but at least it's fun,' he added
sadly, 'that I can get you to say, "Hell, yeah!"/pp'Hell, yeah!' hollered back the young crowd,
oblivious to the pathos./ppTwo days later, when we meet in West's favourite London hotel, The
Landmark, it's a year and a day since his mother passed. He walks into the suite wearing a Raf
Simons jacket, Retro Super Future shades, a thick Louis Vuitton scarf and shoulder bag. He politely
but firmly refuses to remove his shades, scarf or shoulder bag for the photoshoot. When we sit down
to talk, he removes the bag and scarf, but the shades remain in place. He talks more quietly than
usual. In the 36 hours since Dublin, West has been to Paris for meetings with Louis Vuitton about
the shoe range he is designing for the label. The self-christened Louis Vuitton Don is also working
on his own fashion label, Pastelle, and counts designers such as Kim Jones as close friends. 'I'm
like the fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary,' he rapped on Graduation. He's only had a couple
of hours' sleep in the past two days and is so exhausted that when I listen back to the interview
later he sounds drunk, slurring his words./ppHis new album is entitled 808s Heartbreak, and is
steeped in both. The 808 is the Roland TR-808, a drum machine beloved of early dance-music
pioneers. The heartbreak seeps through every song, with titles such as 'Welcome to Heartbreak',
'Love Lockdown', 'See You In My Nightmares', 'Heartless', 'Paranoid', 'Bad News' and 'Coldest
Winter'./ppHis previous albums, College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation have been a
masterful mix of artful intentions and mainstream appeal, somehow straddling the hoods and suburbs.
Heartbreak is a complete departure. An incessant tweaker, West used to spend up to 18 months
working on an album. Last year he worked with eight engineers around the world on 'Stronger' alone,
recording more than 50 versions. Heartbreak more or less poured out of him in one studio in a mere
three weeks. He hardly raps on it; almost every vocal has the ghostly Auto-Tune effect with West
half-singing, half-speaking, and there's none of the skits that littered previous albums. It's
quite a break from his opening trilogy./pp'Yeah, it definitely is,' nods West. 'It was just a brand
new idea. It was like these are the sounds, these are the instruments I want to use and this is the
subject matter.'/ppPreviously he would ensure there was something for all his fans, a concession he
no longer feels he needs to make./pp'Now I just make music for me. It's like my house, because it's
where I have to live. It's what I have to perform, 100 shows a year. So people may comment on it to
their friends, but when they try and make a suggestion to me, it's like suggesting I change the
couch in my living room - "Fuck you, it's my couch." I'm just allowing people in my home... if you
don't like it, you can leave.'/ppWhich came first, the 808s or heartbreak?/pp'The music, then I
came up with the title because I was taking an 808 and pitching it. A lot of people have used 808s
in the past but because it was so low, nobody bothered messing with the pitch. I actually call the
effect "heartbreak". It sounds distorted and electronic, and just the sound of it represents where
I'm at.'/pp'I've created a new genre for myself called "pop art",' he continues. 'I know they have
that genre of visual art but they don't have it in music. Either call it "pop" or "pop art", either
one I'm good with.'/ppDo you think people will be shocked by Heartbreak? 'They'll definitely be
surprised it's so personal and so heartfelt. It was just pouring out of my soul. It was therapeutic
...'/ppTo get the hurt out of your system? 'Well, to try my best. To scream at the top of my lungs
about what I'm going through.'/ppPreviously, West told me he thought proper rock stars settle down
and have kids. On Heartbreak he morosely recounts how 'My friend showed me pictures of his kids,
but all I could show him was pictures of my cribs.' This is not exactly typical hip-hop lyrical
fodder, Kanye./pp'Especially for me,' nods West. 'How many times have I had songs just about what
I've bought blah, blah, and now it's like - take all that away and what do you have?'/ppDo you
think it will polarise your fanbase?/pp'Definitely. Some people just want to hear a lot of rap
lyrics. I'm just trying to make the best music possible. I'll use the advantage of being a rapper
to give an urban flavour to pop hits, which is an incredible combination. That chorus to
"Heartbreak" could be a Broadway chorus, it's so classic' - In the night, I hear 'em talk, the
coldest story ever told, somewhere far along this road he lost his soul, to a woman so heartless -
the message is classic. The heartbreak. The Shakespearian tragedy. That's what this is - it's a
modern-day tragedy. Devastation. Multiple losses in my life.'/ppYou've always been a control freak,
but you must have felt you had no control over what's happened in the past year./pp'Yeah, but it
helped me grow as a person. To have things that were out of my control and to have to accept those
things. I'm less judgmental now, I think.'/ppHas it forced you to re-evaluate your
beliefs?/pp'Yeah,' he says softly. 'Well, my beliefs... I don't partake to any specific religion, I
just believe in God. I always had a problem with the specifics of religion. Like having to go to
church on the third Sunday and eat the cracker and drink the wine...'/ppOn College Dropout you said
God was the executive producer of your life. Do you still feel like that? 'Yeah, I feel like he has
a path for me. I let him guide me. I open my mouth in the studio and let him say what he wants me
to say, because I'm sure this music, even though it's gut wrenching, is going to help people get
through their situations. You know we talked last time about being the soundtrack to people's
lives? Well, really, that's what it is.'/ppYou mean you need to reflect the peaks and troughs of
life in your music?/pp'Yeah,' he nods, 'because people go through heartbreak and then people have a
good time.'/ppSo, the personal heartbreak - is it harder to deal with in the public, or weirdly
cathartic? /pp'It's weird, it's kind of therapeutic ... but to have to answer all these questions
... it's hard.'/ppBut you're obviously going to be asked about it because it's the theme of the
album./pp'Yeah, they're going to ask them a little more because of the songs, but the full
explanation is in the songs ... the little things here and there, I don't really have to clarify
them.'/ppWe continue a little longer, but West's head is dropping behind the shades. 'Yo, I need to
take a nap. I'm just falling asleep. You're trailing with us today, right? We can talk some more
later.' He curls up on the sofa and I leave the room./ppAfter West wakes up we travel in a convoy
of people carriers to tonight's gig at the O2 arena. Before the gig, Kanye hosts a playback of the
album for a select group of journalists. He is re-energised on hearing the music and more bullish
when he answers a few questions. Most of the journalists are a little taken back by the curveball
that is Heartbreak. It's either very brave or very foolish, one suggests - are you prepared for a
backlash? 'Yeah, I'm prepared,' retorts West. 'For anyone who doesn't like it, fuck you in
advance.'/ppAsked about the heartbreak he says: 'It's lonely at the top. Losing my mom, having no
woman in my life to support me. I feel I'm on my own and can only express it through my
music.'/ppAfter the gig, he unwinds backstage by taking on Damon Albarn at Connect 4, another one
of his quirky obsessions./ppThe following lunchtime we meet just off Leicester Square. West picks
up a sandwich from Subway before we head into Capital for some pre-recorded interviews for radio.
He's asked again about the album's themes. 'I'm not going to Oprah Winfrey the situation, y'know
what I'm saying?' he says. 'I've dealt with a lot of fucked-up shit in my life and my heart, and
I'm not a celebrity, I'm a real person and people don't realise what that's like.'/ppPartly in an
attempt to open a straight dialogue with fans and bypass the media, West has also launched his own
blog. He posts up to 10 times a day, a mixture of pictures of contemporary architecture, pieces
from his favourite clothing designers, scantily clad models - usually with a speech bubble saying,
'Where are you Yeezy?' - videos and the odd MP3. He thinks the blog 'saved me a whole bunch of
money', reasoning that instead of spending millions on several homes, a fleet of cars and a trophy
wife to prove his taste and success like a traditional pop star, he can simply showcase his
impeccable taste on his blog. Occasionally, when he feels particularly misrepresented, there'll
also be a BREATHLESS RANT IN CAPITALS WITHOUT ANY PUNCTUATION AGAINST SOME PLAYER HATERS WHO DON'T
UNDERSTAND THAT YE GIVES IT ALL FOR HIS FANS EVERY NIGHT!!!/ppLeaving Capital, on the way to Radio
One, I'm invited to ride with West in his car to carry on the interview. Which is a little
difficult when I'm in the front and he's sat behind me with Virgil Abloh, a designer who is showing
him images on a laptop. /ppSo you've fallen out of love with fame, I suggest. 'Yeah,' he nods,
'it's weird, it's always been a love-hate thing. But now I blame fame for the losses of my life. In
the future, I've got to figure how to handle that, with being super-famous.'/ppYou no longer want
to be the biggest star in the world? 'I'm completely fine with somebody else being the biggest
star. I don't need that. I just need to be expressive in my own right. I'm still going to do what I
do and if by default that's the biggest thing then it is, but it's not my goal.'/ppWe talk about
Obama's victory./pp'It was the most unbelievable thing in the world,' says West. 'So incredible, so
unimaginable, that America picked him. Especially after the Al Gore thing, where he got all those
votes and still didn't win.'/ppHe's written a song with Jay-Z inspired by Obama, called 'History',
which has been leaked online, but already seems tired of being asked about it. 'The thing about
Barack is that any question that you can ask has already been answered,' he says. 'Barack's win is
like a comfortable silence. Whenever I think of the shit that is going on in my life, I just think
of Barack and it makes everything seem OK.'/ppKanye has already met Obama. 'I met him with my mom
in Chicago ... '/pp'I would definitely like to be cool with the president,' West concludes, after a
while, 'I would just like to hoop with him. Everything else we can talk about on the court.'/ppTwo
days later West is arrested after an incident with a paparazzi outside Tup Tup Palace nightclub in
Newcastle. The next day, after posting pictures of the new Aston Martin One-77, Peruvian model
Stephanie Cayo, a diving mask with built-in camera, new work by Beijing artist Li Wei and new Air
Jordans, West blogs 'WHO'S WINNING ME OR THE MEDIA? NO MATTER HOW MUCH LIGHT I PUT OUT, THERE ARE
PEOPLE WORKING JUST AS HARD TO ONLY DELIVER DARKNESS.' He continues: 'LET US NOT FORGET THE PAPS
KILLED PRINCESS DIANA.'/ppAlmost all of the comments in response are positive, but some of West's
fans seem a little concerned for his mental state. So much so that he feels the need to respond.
'THANKS EVERYBODY FOR YALL SUPPORT! I'M ACTUALLY DOING REALLY GOOD AND I'M INSPIRED AND CREATIVE RT
NOW! ... NO MORE TWELVE MINUTE MISERY FREESTYLES LOL!!!'/ppSo what becomes of Ye, brokenhearted? He
talks about taking six months off from music and going to work in a fashion house, giving himself
some time off. 'It's like, I'd much rather talk about making this collar red,' he said in the car,
pointing at a polo shirt on the laptop screen, 'than answer your questions right now.'/ppHe also
talks about leaving LA and possibly moving to Europe. What doesn't seem in doubt is that he blames
fame and success, and hence himself, for what happened over the past year./pp'I feel like I moved
to California, then my mom moved to California,' he said, 'and she did stuff she wouldn't have done
if we'd stayed in Chicago. If I'd never made it in the music business, it never would have
happened.'/pp· Heartbreak is out now/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;
margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/kanyewest"Kanye West/a/li/ul/diva
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Recommandations
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and reject those that you are not interested in
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