No one really understood the point Kanye West was trying to make when he told Jimmy Kimmel that leather jogging pants were his idea. To many it was just another rant. It was Kanye being Kanye. But when he sat down with New York’s 92.3 NOW (a Radio.com station) yesterday (Nov. 25), Kanye explained that the root to his perceived anger comes from repeated bouts of frustration with those in the fashion industry.
“When I had the opportunity to work with Nike, what I asked them to do is create a small facility for me to be able to continue to create and allow me to get royalties off of what I created,” Kanye explained. “They said, ‘No. We won’t give you royalties because you’re not a professional athlete.’ I said, ‘What about the Yeezys?’ They said, ‘We don’t care about that.’”“They want to marginalize me until I’m no longer relevant,” Kanye said, bringing light to the fact that major companies have no issue using his name to sell a $275 pair of sneakers — a first for a non-athlete under the Nike brand.
“End of the day, it’s cool to be cool,” Kanye said. “But people lining up for the Yeezys and daddy not getting paid ain’t gonna mean nothing to North ten years from now.”
Kanye was met with the same resistance while in Paris seeking a meeting with the head of Louis Vuitton. “’I don’t know why we need to meet with you,’” West was told, responding, “Let me explain to you why you need to meet with me. ‘Everybody in New York City right now don’t buy any Louis Vuitton until after January.’ Now do you want to meet with me?”
The initial resistance from the fashion world isn’t going to slow Kanye down. He’s not only going to become a part of it, but thrive in it.
“I’m not gonna be in the club on a Thursday,” claims Kanye. “Im’a be running a content, experience and product company. I’m gon’ be what y’all would consider or classify as the new Disney. The new Steve Jobs. The new Howard Hughes. The new David Stern. The new Michelangelo.”
Kanye did say that he has found a company that is willing to give him his own facility and will pay him royalties, but did not reveal the company’s name or any details of the deal.
Hours later though, Kanye revealed that he has cut all ties with Nike to team up with Adidas, stating, “I took the Adidas deal because I have royalties and I have to provide for my family.”
He went on to declare himself “the Tupac of product” and said he was going to be the “first hip-hop designer and because of that I’m gonna be bigger than Wal-Mart.”
Go here to watch the full interview with Kanye.
No comments:
Post a Comment