Professor Kanye and the Business of Yeezus

December 8, 2015 10:41 AM

Kanye gave a lecture at the Oxford Guild earlier this year, and it's now available on YouTube for everyone's viewing pleasure.

i-D asked three students talk about what they learned:
"Ye stepped on stage, waiting bemusedly for the cheering crowd to subside. He was given an introduction as 'a man that needs no introduction' then just recalibrated - removing tables, chairs, mics etc. - impediments that didn't fit with his 'aesthetic'; constraints that messed with his flow."

posted by ourt (4 comments total)

Here's a link to the transcript of the talk, or at least a page with the transcript, if you scroll down a bit.

I bet it's even better to watch Ye actually speak it all, but it was also an awesome read, thank you very much for the post!
posted by wyndham at 12:43 PM on December 8, 2015

then just recalibrated - removing tables, chairs, mics etc. - impediments that didn't fit with his 'aesthetic'; constraints that messed with his flow."

And that was totally not staged!
posted by telstar at 3:47 PM on December 8, 2015

You guys have been taught, without you knowing it, ways to separate yourselves from each other. If you’re separated, you can be easily controlled. If you’re too busy pointing fingers at each other, as opposed to holding hands, you can’t get anything done.


He's right.


I read the transcript. It's like he has these beautiful ideas and can't slow his thinking down enough to really communicate them clearly. They're there, but hard to grab.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:03 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

And you’re looking for this moment where you sit in your BMW after all the work that you’ve done and all the accolades that you get, and how big your house is and everything, and somehow you think you’re gonna get that level of joy that my daughter had when she received those wolves. As you’re sitting in traffic in your BMW, it’s something that feels empty. To everyone who reaches that point. This concept of the selfish human, this idea of separation by race, or gender, or religion, or age, or my favourite thing to hate, class.

The man is on to something there
posted by iffthen at 5:35 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]