It’s been a pretty busy month for Kanye, hasn’t it?
First came some good old online harassment following the split of Pete and Kim, then his trash-y “Homeless” controversy happened, before he confirmed he’d be terminating the partnerships he had in place with both GAP and adidas after a few days of social media beefing.
Oh, and he grew a beard, which was a nice surprise, too.
In between all of this – and also releasing the latest (and seemingly final) YEEZY GAP campaign – Kanye starred as the first guest on Alo Yoga’s new "Mind Full" podcast, and Highsnobiety can exclusively debut the interview.
Spoiler alert: it’s wild.
Hosted by Alo’s VP of Brand Innovation Alyson Wilson and co-founder Danny Harris, Kanye openly said what’s currently on his mind, covering an array of topics from architecture to YEEZY, and everything in between, even touching on GAP and adidas.
Of course, he was wearing merch from the brand new Balenciaga Music x Pink Martini collection.
“I honestly believe that GAP and adidas are part of a bigger plan to marginalize American companies and American industry, which is the opposite of what Danny’s doing,” Ye explained during the podcast.
“In this prison of finger pointing and name calling, a little crack of light, a little Shawshank Redemption came through that prison cell at that factory today.”
That's apparently quite a cultured reference for Kanye, who later happily admits to having never read a book in his life.
The podcast – which is also available for listening via Apple Podcasts and the YouTube video above – eventually sees Kanye going on to describe Alo Yoga as “the Ye of manufacturing,” which is “the highest compliment, under God, to say [that something is] the Ye version.”
For anyone familiar with Kanye's favorite innovators, this reflects a marked change: McDonald's and Apple used to be Kanye's standard of excellence, now it's himself.
Interviews with Kanye are usually few and far between, with the rapper preferring to blow off steam in social media rants these days. His missives are often distributed in all-caps Instagram captions and makeshift memes, then swiftly deleted nearly as quickly as they're uploaded.
Ye did, however, recently open up about his decision to leave adidas and GAP, though, stating "I've made the companies money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever, like the Round Jacket, the Foam Runner, the slides that have changed the shoe industry."
"Now it’s time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience."
Except for adidas and GAP, apparently, the brands that are seemingly reiterating some restrictions around Kanye's YEEZY. He ain't independent just yet, it seems.
