Kanye West Tells GQ He’s ‘Definitely Voting This Time and We Know Who’ For

In a four part interview with GQ’s Will Welch, Kanye West talked about a number of different topics, including his faith. In part two of the interview, he talked about politics and his plans for the election. He said “I’m definitely voting this time. And we know who I’m voting on.”

Interview Two: On the Jet from Cody to Los Angeles

January 30, 2020

Welch: So this is an election year, and I’m curious how your faith plays into your thoughts on politics. To go back to when you put on the MAGA hat, how do you see that moment from where we are now, sitting on this plane, in January of 2020?

Kanye: Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn’t drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn’t eat from. They didn’t fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on. [laughs]

What do you make of how that moment reverberated? Did it have the effect that you intended?

I didn’t intend for anything except to speak my mind and express how I felt. I have no intention other than to be free, and I don’t intend to be free—I just simply am.

What is the responsibility of celebrities who are able to move culture? There is this idea that you have to be accountable to people other than just yourself.

Yeah, usually you’re accountable to people that are in control of your check. And you’re accountable for whatever they deem you to be the face of—for the people that they are controlling through you. So that’s what celebrity in America truly means. Celebrities are scared! Celebrities don’t have the real voice. But I don’t want to diss the organization of celebrities. I don’t want to be sending shots at celebrities, because I am one. I know a lot of celebrities.

I don’t think that was a shot at people who are celebrities. I think that was an analysis of the way the system works.

What do you want me to say? This is America. One in three African Americans are enslaved, and we go more crazy if, you know, someone scores a touchdown. Modern-day mass incarceration is right in front of us, and if I even use the word slavery, I’m treated like I’m a white person talking about slavery. I remember when I became a billionaire I was told not to say out loud that I was a billionaire. What?

How did that go?

What? What is the point of being a billionaire if you can’t even say it out loud? We’re not completely free yet.

The one thing that seemed at odds with—

Oh, I got one for you.

Yeah?

“George Bush doesn’t care about black people” is a victim statement. This white person didn’t do something for us. That is stemmed in victim mentality. Every day I have to look in the mirror like I’m Robert De Niro and tell myself, “You are not a slave.” As outspoken as I am, and the position that I am in, I need to tell myself.

A lot of the reaction to you wearing the hat was “How could the guy who gave us the gift of ‘George Bush doesn’t care about black people’ now do this?”

Black people are controlled by emotions through the media. The media puts musicians, artists, celebrities, actors in a position to be the face of the race, that really don’t have any power and really are just working for white people. When it’s said like that, it’s kind of obvious, right? We emotionally connect to someone of our color on TV and feel that this person is speaking for us. So let me say this: I am the founder of a $4 billion organization, one of the most Google-searched brands on the planet, and I will not be told who I’m gonna vote on because of my color.

Now, if that speaks to you, cool. But I’m speaking for myself.

What was at odds to me about you wearing the hat is that “Make America Great Again” is about looking back. Whereas, to me, you are a perpetual forward thinker.

I buy real estate. It’s better now than when Obama was in office. They don’t teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody’s property.

For the election ahead, do you plan to speak more about it, or are your interests elsewhere?

No, I’m definitely voting this time. And we know who I’m voting on. And I’m not going to be told by the people around me and the people that have their agenda that my career is going to be over. Because guess what: I’m still here! Jesus Is King was No. 1! I was told my career would end if I wasn’t with her. What kind of campaign is that, anyway? That’s like if Obama’s campaign was “I’m with black.” What’s the point of being a celebrity if you can’t have an opinion? Everybody make their own opinion! You know?

But there is an expectation that when you have a voice as powerful as yours, you can’t just express yourself for yourself. You have to think of other people.

Well, it’s good that we found out about all of those awards shows that partially led me to alcoholism. Whistle been blown, you know? Imagine My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne [being eligible] the same year and neither of them being nominated for Album of the Year. Imagine doing The Life of Pablo and driving down the road and never hearing none of those songs on the radio and your wife and your daughter are in the car.