Kanye West: "We’re numb to 500 kids getting killed in Chicago a year"

Annie Mac is set to broadcast a new interview with Kanye West on her BBC Radio 1 show this evening.

Details of the chat have emerged already, with Stereogum reporting that topics that West discusses include his 2020 presidential bid, plans for an affordable Adidas shoe, and his collaboration with IKEA.

On the latter point, West says “Yo IKEA, allow Kanye to create, allow him to make this thing because you know what, I want a bed that he makes, I want a chair that he makes — I want more products from Ye.”

Maybe the line will look like the Yeezy Season IKE4 range we mocked up for April Fools’ Day?

Opening up about plans for an inexpensive Adidas shoe, he reveals: “I’m going to Adidas and I’m like Adidas, I know you’ve never made a shoe under $50 but we have to make a shoe that costs $30 and I’m gonna be the coolest shoe of all. To me, this thing I’m saying is the thing I’m most excited about of anything I’ve ever done.”

West’s bid for presidency is motivated by a desire to reverse the degradation of humanity in America. He says: “We are numb, we’re numb to 500 kids getting killed in Chicago a year, we’re numb to the fact that it was seven police shootings in the beginning of July … we’re numb to places on the earth that we don’t live – like our life is okay but it’s okay for other people’s lives to not be okay.

“When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views, I don’t have views on politics, I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth. If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day, to somehow make a difference while I’m alive I’m going to try to do it.”

During the talk he also finds time to discuss his dietary habits, divulging: “When my wife cooks for me I will always ask for greens and she never wants to cook the greens because they take three hours to cook.” Not everything is going his way, then.

Tune in to Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show this evening to hear the interview in full. UK residents can listen online here from 7pm, while US listeners can tune in via the iPlayer app.

[Via: The Fader and Stereogum]

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter