Even if you were able to stay up all night to watch this year’s VMAs (and if you did, we applaud you), you probably still had some trouble fully keeping track of exactly what Kanye said in his rambling speech before he debuted the video for Fade. He covered a lot of ground. It was all a bit confusing.
So here’s a recap, broken down into topics so it’s all a bit easier to understand. Enjoy.
On Famous
Kanye explained that regardless of the controversy surrounding the video for ‘Famous’, he maintains that the project is a work of art, covering important themes on, well, fame.
'It was an expression of our now,' said Kanye, 'our fame right now. Us, on the inside of the TV. You know, just the audacity to put Anna Wintour right next to Donald Trump. I mean, like, I put Ray J in it, bro!'
On Amber Rose and the coolness of Kim Kardashian
While noting the people Kanye was audacious enough to put in the video, Kanye gave a quick shout-out to Amber Rose, who was sitting in the audience: 'I see you, Amber!'
He followed that up by confirming that Kim really isn’t bothered about Kanye talking about other women, calling Kim a 'G' and noting that 'not a lot of people’s wives would let them say that.' True.
On race and class
In between talking about Famous and Taylor Swift, Kanye delved into deeper topics, such as issues of race and class.
'We came over in the same boat, now we’re all in the same bed,' said Kanye. “'Well maybe different boats.'
He then went into the killing of people of colour in the U.S.
'If you think about last week, it was 22 people murdered in Chicago,' added Kanye. 'I was speaking at the art institute last year and one kid came up to me and said, ‘three of my friends died and I don’t know if I’m going to be the next’. You have to think, you know when you’re a senior and it’s the last month and you don’t feel like doing any more work? If you feel like you’re seeing people dying right next to you, you might feel like, what’s the point?
'Like, life could start to feel worthless in that way.'
Kanye then talked about his inspirations (we’ll get to that in a bit), and explained that he’d previously been told not to compare himself to these people, adding: “'My friend told me there’s three ways to keep people impoverished: taking away their self esteem, taking away their resources, and taking away their role models.'
On role models
'My role models are artists, merchants. Less than ten I can name in history: Truman, Ford, Hughes, Disney, Jobs, West.'
On Taylor Swift
Of COURSE Taylor Swift came up, but it was only a small mention. Kanye didn’t go into a full on attack or meltdown, simply restating that he called Taylor to get her approval on the lyrics for Famous.
'You know, people come up to me like "man, that’s right, take Taylor,”' said Kanye. 'Bro, like, I love all of y’all – that’s why I called her.'
On being a ‘thought leader’
A Kanye speech wouldn’t be a Kanye speech if he didn’t call himself one of the most influential people in the world, right? This time he noted a few other select musicians joining him in his mission to change the world – and Kim Kardashian, of course.
'I’m standing in front of my idol Puff Daddy,” said Kanye. “I’m standing in front of my wife Kim Kardashian-West. I’m standing in front of the future: Chance the Rapper, 2 Chainz, Jaden Smith.
'Bro, we are undeniably the influence, the thought leaders. I’m gonna play y’all a piece of my art and I just hope you have a good time.'
And with that, he played the video for Fade, and confused everyone with a final shot of Teyana Taylor with a cat face, her fiancé Iman Shumpert, a baby, and a bunch of sheep. Sounds about right.
Liked this? You might also be interested in:
24 Hours After The VMAs Here's What Everyone's Still Talking About
Follow Ellen on Twitter @ellencscott
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.