In late 2013, Kanye West gave Sway In The Morning a watershed moment. Host Sway Calloway suggested West empower himself, and in turn, others when he seemed to be at his highest. At a time when Kanye’s later-revealed financial woes were making their way into the public, West erupted, “How, Sway?” it what became a viral moment. ‘Ye told his friend that he lacked the answers to his questions.

Being interviewed by Zane Lowe, Kanye reflects on that event differently. The subject came up when the host asked West about his friend and former employee Virgil Abloh taking the Artistic Director position at Louis Vuitton in 2018.

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“I ain’t trying to say the right answer; I am just doing what I’m feeling. My mama said, ‘trying is failing. There is no if’s, would’s, could’s, should’s; it just is, and we just are. And is so.’ It is simple,” West tells Lowe at 1:19:00. “This mentality should not be defeated. ‘Ye cannot die. ‘Ye cannot be buried.” West proclaims he has no enemies or rivals, mentioning Drake. Last year, the longtime collaborators had moved into a rift on social media and in lyrics.

West continues, “Now, I think more about Bernard Arnault than I think about Drake. Because he might’ve thought he got culture by taking Virgil [Abloh]. But it’s like, ‘No. Now you’re having to pilfer from my territory. You came in and took one person that is African American, is African, and that could be the face to draw Louis Vuitton on the side of bags and get people that look at Instagram and want to buy expensive items that are “of the culture” so to say, to over-spend on things.'”

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Zane Lowe asks West how it specifically felt to watch Abloh get the job West had assumed would be his. “I felt bad. I felt like it was supposed to be me. I was ‘the Louis Vuitton Don.'” He continues, “But I took a branding from something that someone else had made up and is in control of. So it’s completely up to Bernard [and] who he wanted to don as ‘The Louis Vuitton Don.'” He says Arnault is a living male hero, a distant second to his father.

West also suggested that Vuitton cost him money and reputation in the past. “[Bernard Arnault] also offered me a deal five years ago when we had our first Yeezy show. He shook my hand, said we’d never go back on the handshake, then dropped the deal three months later. It had an effect on me going to the hospital.” Focusing on Vuitton interfered with West’s Adidas line. Problems worsened. “I’m rapping. Drake stays right down the street. I’m designing; I don’t have production. I’ve never done it before. No one wants to help me out.” The MC/producer continues detailing his bad luck streak of 2016. “My wife got robbed in Paris; the next thing you know, I’m in the hospital. I have to wear that for the rest of my life.” To make matters worse, Abloh was the best man at his wedding.

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However, West sees Virgil’s appointment with new clarity. “He ran that touchdown in for us all. Because there was a time when we all were crazy. There was a time where there were fish-sticks on South Park. Now everybody wanna pull up at a fashion show.” He adds, “It always was and is supposed to be me. But I’m not supposed to be working for Bernard. I’m supposed to be bringing manufacturing back to America. They did me a favor.”

West continues, “God had a bigger plan…that’s why I didn’t want to be presumptuous and arrogant and borderline blasphemous to tell you where this would be in 20 years. I’m open. ‘Hey, God, use me. Please. Please, Jesus Christ, use me to the maximum. If it is in your will.’ He’s given me all these skills.” Now West admires all that he is accomplishing in fashion, in design, and in music. He feels he is doing it himself, and providing opportunities for others. “This is what Sway was talkin’ about. I used to say, ‘How, Sway?’ Now I say, ‘Now, Sway. Now, Sway. Now is time.'”

Virgil Abloh Becomes First African American Artistic Director At Louis Vuitton

Last week, West released Jesus Is King.