Kanye West Quotes

My fans kept asking where they could get clothes like 'Destiny's Child's', so it was only natural for us to do a clothing line. I was adamant about not putting my name on something that I didn't love.

I want to show my personality through my designs and stay pretty anonymous outside the industry.

You look at guys on the court, man. You got this guy with this brand of shoe, and this guy with this brand - they're just wearing the shoe. But it's a whole different feeling when you got a shoe on, and it's yours.

I try to make my clothing line an entry point for discovering the substance of the rest of my work.

There's a lot of pressure that comes from the mainstream stuff, and already people who have been saying - people who don't know any better - have been saying things to me like, 'You should really think about neosoul. You'd definitely be more successful in that.' But that's not my expression.

I am not a businessman, I am an artist.

I'm not a rapper; I'm an artist. And I'm more than an artist. I'm a brand.

I have my Icy brand, so one day when I do have the time I'll create my own fashion line.

It probably would be impossible for me to make music and not make it sound like Burzum. This is the music I make and the only music I am able to make, so I have no other options musically.

Writers will see your work and want to try you in different things but I think you have to stay true to your vehicle. We all have a vehicle. Whether it's a thug, or a school child or the babyface or the sex siren or the video vin, whatever it is ride that until the wheels fall off and eventually, if you build your foundation then you can branch off.

I don't really think of myself as a businessman at all. That's why I have the 'chief creative officer' role.

I didn't really even think of recording under my own name for a long time. I thought, 'I've got the rest of my life to do that.'

I thought Steve Jobs was amazing. He was such a great businessman. Someone that has just been really continually successful with their brand and hasn't gone away, Madonna is incredible. We've all kind of listened to her for years and seen her grow up and change, and she's never strayed away from who she is.

I tried to change my style a few years ago because people didn't like the over-the-top thing.

I think I stumbled upon a voice people associate with me with 'The Deal.'

I don't think of myself as a television producer. Obviously, that's crazy. Because I should. That's what I do. But I don't actually see that as my job. It's why my business cards say 'storyteller.'

When I was shopping around trying to get signed, I made it a point to say, 'This is who I am.' I dress the way I normally dress, and I just wanted to find a label that would accept me for that.

I don't really think of myself so much as a writer as a stylist, someone who came into writing from the back door and has found it through a certain very specific and personal means.

I'm not just a remix guy.

You look at the Rolling Stones. It had the lips, the logo and the style. You look at Jay-Z, who I think is probably the smartest brand marketer I've ever met. These people understand the core of what their brand is and what their fans want.

When I was growing up, the brands that were most powerful were people brands, like Michael Jackson or Madonna. They stood for something that, perhaps, wasn't wholly who they were, which then became an image that they sold. That's still a brand to me.

My signature line of clothing for Satya Paul will showcase a distinctive aspect of my own personal style.

I always say, 'If it looks good on a T-shirt, it would probably be a pretty cool title or cool song.'

Somebody once asked me, 'What do you do?' and I flippantly answered 'I'm a cultural engineer.' With hindsight, I kind of am - but if I got too self-conscious about it, it wouldn't work.

Pyrex Vision's first season was, for me, an expression of myself as an artist first, designer second.