This week, Kanye followed in Kim’s footsteps by getting his own “Paper” magazine cover. While he didn’t break the internet — the cover is a rather tasteful booty-free headshot— hip-hop's reigning provocateur kept it three hundred as always, with a searing, upbeat manifesto about art, beauty, technology, innovation, inspiration and humanity's bright future. Kanye has a bit of a rep for being angry, but really, he’s a pretty cheery guy! Here’s ten motivational quotes to brighten up your Tuesday.
Kanye’s dream is bigger than the American dream.
“I know people want to talk about the American Dream, but my dream is a world dream. It's a world in which everyone's main goal would be to help each other.”
Thank God for Steve Jobs.
“The the Internet has opened up every conversation, literally and metaphorically. It starts as homogenizing, but this hybrid-ing, this interbreeding of ideas, is necessary for us as a race to evolve. (Thank God for Steve Jobs.)"
Be the Gap you want to see in the world (especially if you once worked at the Gap)
"I think it's so important for me, as an artist, to give Drake as much information as I can, A$AP, Kendrick, Taylor Swift, any of these younger artists as much information as I can to make better music in the future. We should all be trying to make something that's better. 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."
A kilt is not just a kilt.
"I paid my dues when I had to wear a kilt in Chicago, and friends would say, "What's your boy got on?" But there are warriors that have killed people in kilts in the past. Who gets to decide what's hard and what's not hard? When I saw this kilt, I liked it. I was into it. It looked fresh to me. I felt creative; I didn't feel limited by some perception."
Design like you’re three-years-old. In a good way.
"My goal isn't to "break through the fashion world;" my goal is to make usable sculpture. My goal is to paint. My goal is to be as close to a five-year-old, or a four-year-old, or a three-year-old, as possible. If a three-year-old says, 'I like the color orange,' he's not giving an explanation to an entire world that can give him a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down on whether or not he should like the color orange. I don't care about the thumbs-up or the thumbs-down."
Different races, aside we're all part of the human race.
"We're different colors -- my cousins and I are different shapes and we're all from one family. We're all from one family called the human race. It's simple as that. This race is up against some interesting things -- poverty, war, global warming, classism -- and we have to come together to beat this. It'll only be as a collective that we can beat this, and we can. We can create a better world for ourselves."
Awesome is possible.
"I also love people being inspired to follow their dreams, because I think people are oppressed by smoke and mirrors, by perception. There isn't an example of a living celebrity that has more words formed against him, but just a little self-belief can go a long way. I think the scariest thing about me is the fact that I just believe. I believe awesome is possible and I believe that beauty is important.:
Be an innovator.
"I care about innovating. I don't care about capitalizing off of something that we've seen or heard a thousand times. I'm not a capitalist in that way. I'm an innovator. That's my job. I like two things: I like innovating and I like making things better."
Just because you’re tripping on Nitrous doesn’t mean your revelations aren’t valid.
"One time I was at the dentist's office and I was given nitrous gas and I was vibing out -- I guess that's my version of Steve Jobs and his LSD trip -- when I had this first thought: What is the meaning of life? And then I thought, To give. What's the key to happiness? Happiness. What do you want in life? When you give someone something, should they give you something in return? No."
If you hear screaming, don't worry -- it's for the good of the people.
"The times that I've looked like a crazy person -- when I was screaming at an interviewer or screaming from the stage -- all I was screaming was, 'Help me to help more! I've given all I've got. I've gone into fucking debt. It's all I've got to give. But if I had a little bit more opportunity, I could give so much more.' That's what I was screaming for. Help me to help more."
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