Kanye West opens up about his 'mental condition' and slavery comments

'Like I said on the album, it’s not a disability but a superpower'

While the world hunted for streams of Kanye West’s new album, ye, following the Wyoming listening party, the rapper sat down with American radio host Big Boy for a candid interview.

Over the course of 10 minutes, the duo touched on everything from West’s “mental condition” to the creation of the album, his eighth studio record.

The first notable talking point was Kanye saying that the record initially sounded completely different, deciding to scrap everything to find something that “matched” his energy.

On the album title, West said: “I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the bible, and in the bible it means you. So, I’m you. I’m us. It went from Kanye, being the only one, to ye being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused. A reflection of who we are.”’

Speaking about the infamous TMZ interview where West said slavery was “a choice”, the artist said he redid the entire album following the outburst.

“I just sat there and really honed in the words,” he told the DJ. “Every bar can be used [as a headline]. We even had bars about that on the album. I took it out. It was just too sensitive about that topic. I thought ‘let’s just chill and make some music.’”

Asked about music being an outlet for expression, West was candid speaking about his own mental health.

He said: ”I’m so blessed and so privileged because think about people that have mental issues that are not Kanye West, that can’t go and make that [album] and make you feel like it’s all good. Think about someone who does exactly what I did at TMZ and they just do that at work. On Tuesday morning, they come in and they just lost their job. And they can’t go back and do that.”

“That’s why God put that on me at 40. I’ve never been diagnosed and I was like 39 years old,” West continued, clarifying he has been “diagnosed with a mental condition.”

“Everybody got something,” West concluded. “But, it’s like I said on the album, it’s not a disability but a superpower.” Watch the full interview below.

West’s new album has received mixed reviews; read a roundup of the initial critical consensus here.