Following on from his 2015 speech in which he announced that he’d be running for president in 2020, Kanye West was given free reign at this year’s MTV VMAs in a speech that lasted eight minutes, in which he also addressed his beef with Taylor Swift.
After entering the stage as Famous played in the background, Yeezy began his speech, “I am Kanye West, and that feels really great to say, especially this year. I came here to present my new video, but before I do that, I’ma talk.”
He then began to speak about his controversial video for Famous explaining “it was an expression of our now, our fame right now, us on the inside of the TV”.
Kanye then directly addressed his beef with Taylor Swift, saying, “But if you think about last week, it was 22 people murdered in Chicago. People come up to me, like, ‘That’s right, tell Taylor!’ I’m like, ‘Bro, I love all y’all! That’s why I called her!”
During the speech, he also compared himself to Walt Disney, Steve Jobs and more, and also named himself in a list of his own role models that included Truman, Ford, Hughes, Disney, Jobs and of course West.
He wrapped up the speech by calling giving massive wraps to Chance The Rapper, “I’m standing in front of my idol, Puff Daddy. I’m standing in front of my wife, Kim Kardashian West. I’m standing in front of the future, Chance The Rapper.”
West was nominated for a couple of awards for his controversial video for Famous, and after his speech he presented a brand new video for his track Fade. The clip features actress and recording artist Teyana Taylor. In it, Taylor starts off in a gym working out, but then it starts to get weird. After making out with her real life husband NBA basketball player Iman Shumpert, the closing scene shows Taylor who by this time has morphed into a cat, with Shumpert and their daughter, surrounded by sheep. The full video can be viewed on Tidal.
Watch Kanye West’s full VMAs speech below, alongside a preview of the Fade video.
"I came here to present my new video, but before I do that, Imma talk." – @kanyewest #VMAs https://t.co/ukVtlkcIsD
— MTV (@MTV) August 29, 2016
Watch: Kanye West – ‘Fade’ Preview
