quotables

Kanye Says He’s Trying to Be Robin Hood, and 5 Other Great Quotes From His New Interview

Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

We recently learned that Kanye just wants to fix the world one pant leg at a time, and now we know why: He’s a modern-day Robin Hood! Or at least that’s what he fancies himself in a highly quotable new interview with Style.com — “This is very much a Robin Hood approach that I have to making clothes†— where he touches on everything from people hating Kim Kardashian, to influencing Drake, to having a heartfelt discussion with Tumblr, and so much more.

On reviewers not getting his movement:

“I mean, I don’t know if people felt this, but it’s too late. Like the Drake album says, if you’re reading this, it’s already too late. If you’re seeing this, it’s already too late.â€

On people not embracing his relationship with Kim Kardashian:

“But soon as we started dating, fashion people were really opposed to the idea of reality stars. And all the relationships, the somewhat friends that I had somewhat built up, completely turned their backs on her and me. They already had their back to her, and now they turned it to me.â€

On his purpose in life:

“Let me just explain something to everyone. I’m sorry. I’m a human being. I’ve got opinions, I’m not always right, I’m not always on time, I don’t always say things in the proper way, but my intentions are always extremely pure. My purpose is extremely just.â€

On striving to be oil:

“It’s up to people to be oil or water. If you’re water, your life’s already over. If you’re oil, like the age of the kids that were standing there, you’ll probably be sparked and do something really dynamic in life.â€

On racism:

“Racism and the focus on racism is a distraction to humanity. It would be like focusing on the cousin from your mom’s side versus the cousin on your dad’s side. We’re all cousins. We’re all the same race. To even focus on the concept of race, it’s like — perhaps people give me an extra cookie for the fact that my color palette is so controlled and I’m black.â€

On inspiration:

“You guys know my fucking influences. I’ve got four influences and it’s written all over the face, you know the combination. Just as much as Drake is influenced by Kanye West, you know my fucking influences … . I’m not going to try and act like I was influenced by a fucking dog walking down the street that broke its ankle that I had a heartfelt discussion with. I had a heartfelt discussion with all of these fucking Helmut Lang images that I stared at for so many years. I had a heartfelt discussion with my Tumblr.â€

Kanye Says He’s Trying to Be Robin Hood