"Ever since the Taylor Swift moment, it’s never been the same, connection with radio. Whatever powers that be, it was much harder after that." — Kanye https://t.co/U58nCIcLEVpic.twitter.com/4MDCsMH6qh
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) May 1, 2018
- Kanye West blamed the Taylor Swift incident and the loss of L.A. Reid at Universal Music following an accusation of sexual harassment for his lack of radio play and ultimately his breakdown in 2016. He also mentions Kim's robbery and the lifestyle of being on tour as contributing factors
- Kanye said "Ever since the Taylor Swift moment it has never been the same, the connection with radio. Like whatever powers that be, it was much harder after that."
- Kanye claims that he expected radio play as "one of the most popular artists in the world" and the fact he did not receive that with Life of Pablo affected him. He says this was also due to L.A. Reid not being able to help him get radio play after leaving Universal Music due to sexual harassment allegations.
- When asked what he truly blames on the breakdown, Kanye expressed "Fear, stress, control, being in control, manipulation, like being a pawn in a chess piece of life. Stressing things that create like validation that I didn’t need to worry about as much. It’s the concept of competition, and being in competition with so many elements at one time. A race against time; Your age; Are you getting old? The race against popularity on the radio. Khaled got this song, Drake got this song on the radio… St. Pablo ain’t even playing.”
- Kanye also said he felt disrespected when Obama called him a jackass following the 2009 VMA's, and likes Trump because "I can tell you that, when he was running, it's like I felt something. The fact that he won, it proves something. It proves that anything is possible in America. Donald Trump can be president of America... when I see an outsider infiltrate, I connect with that."
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