Since Kanye West's official return to Twitter a few weeks ago, the artist has had everyone talking. What started off as him firing off tweets about release dates for future albums, photos of unreleased Yeezys, and loving everybody quickly took a controversial turn when he began openly supporting Donald Trump and even posted a photo of himself in a red "Make America Great Again" cap, a symbol of Trump's presidency. Today, West finally released his highly anticipated interview with radio personality Charlamagne Tha God.
Along with discussing Jay Z, Barack Obama, and his support of Trump, West again explained leaving Nike, this time noting that the brand has since tapped his inner circle of collaborators, like Don C. and Virgil Abloh, for its top projects. "The funny thing is look at Nike now—literally all the people that ever worked with me are like the hottest people at Nike now. They gave them the deals because we left and ripped they heads off."
West said that his decision to leave wasn't an easy one, but was based on having to provide for his family, which had recently included the addition of children. "When I was young, I used to sketch the Swoosh and everything. It was heartbreaking for me to have to leave Nike, but they refused to allow me to get royalties on my shoe, and I knew I had the hottest shoe in the world."
It appears that West has no hard feelings, however, towards his associates for aligning themselves with the Swoosh. "These corporations provide an opportunity. These are my friends, they have families. If I'm not gonna provide them the same opportunity, I'm not gonna stand in their way either." Not only that, but he feels it could be a necessity for their growth. "If you're really close to me, it's gonna be my brand. People that want to build their own brand actually need to be as far away from me as possible to get out of the shadow."
Continuing his recent message of love, West again apologized to Nike CEO Mark Parker for his past attacks. "I've just got to speak out as a parent and apologize to [Mark Parker] for ever speaking ill on his name and his company. He gave me that shot when we did the original Yeezy at Nike," explained West. "I always wanted to express that as a father—when my karma comes, I'll accept it in real time," West laughed. "I've got some Karma waiting on me."
Not exactly on-brand with those positive vibes was a playful jab he took at an unnamed Puma employee for not signing him after he left Nike. "The dude that didn't sign me at Puma definitely needs to lose his job."
For the entire interview, check out the video above, with the sneaker discussion beginning at the 46:30 mark.
