In a recent interview with artist Tino Sehgal, Kanye West – whose legal name is now Ye – talked about turning his homes into churches and moving away from capitalism. He also shared his thoughts on “the death of Kanye West.”
During the lengthy conversation, Ye revealed that he plans to stage a performance piece titled ‘The Funeral Rehearsal of Kanye West’, which would be “the death of Kanye West. The death of the ego that separates us – it’s the birth of humanity,” according to the rapper. “Let me start by killing myself. The less you, the more room for God,” he added.
Ye didn’t give any more specific details about the planned performance piece, other than that it was conceived while he was on a trip to Berlin.
Throughout the rest of the interview Ye talked about his ambitions and designs, as well as the importance of people communicating how they want to instead of how they’re expected to, while admitting that he had a hint of “corniness” himself.
“You know, I got a little drop of corniness, that little golden drop that makes it popular,” he said. “But I can’t let nobody love me too much, because I’m gonna get into this trap of love. And then I owe it to everyone to be the person that they fell in love with. And I’ll never be that person. I have to always have the freedom of being disliked, so I can always be me.”
Kanye West became a divisive figure after professing his support for Donald Trump. He didn’t directly mention the former president during the interview, but he did bring up a conversation he had with former Trump adviser Jared Kushner. “You know, I was talking to Jared Kushner before they left office, and he was, like, ‘We are running a third of the land in America,’ and I was, like, ‘But what are you doing with it?’” said Ye, adding that “It’s set up in a way that the Black community will never rise. People are just selling us drugs and selling us bad food, and media, and hate, and people are just not as happy as we could and will be.”
He then made a comment about capitalism, saying that capitalist rule was ‘killing us’ and that society needs to move past the capitalist model, which is why he intends to sell all of his property. “I’m going to be homeless in a year. I’m going to turn all the homes I own into churches,” he said. “We’re making this orphanage, and it will be a place where anyone can go. It should be like an artist commune. Food should always be available.”