"Dark Fantasy" was my long, backhanded apology. You know how people give a backhanded compliment? It was a backhanded apology. It was like, all these raps, all these sonic acrobatics. I was like: "Let me show you guys what I can do, and please accept me back. You want to have me on your shelves."

I used to have the Virgin music [stores], and I would go there and just go up the escalator and say to myself, 'I'm soaking in these last moments of anonymity.' I knew I was going to make it this far; I knew that this was going to happen

I think that’s a responsibility that I have, to push possibilities, to show people: “This is the level that things could be at.”

...I'm not going to be able to make things that I can call Kanye West just by making T-shirts.

I am not a fan of books.

Why, if someone is good in one field can they not be accepted or given the slightest opportunity to express and be creative in other fields?

Maybe 90 percent of the time it looks like I'm not having a good time.