Kanye Goes Off on Hedi Slimane in His Madison Square Garden "Yeezus Tour" Rant

Kanye lets off some steam.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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There are a few things irking Kanye West

During his latest leg of the Yeezus tour with Kendrick Lamar, the rapper took a couple (ten) minutes out of his concert to expound upon some issues he's recently come up against. In autotune. 

"I can't behave, I can only be me," he stated, as he began one of the most revealing speeches he's delivered to date. He lifted the curtain on two power struggles he's grappled with concerning designer Hedi Slimane and Nike—a collaboration he's rumored to be considering ditching for Adidas Y-3.

"Now I know y'all don't know who the fuck Hedi Slimane is, but let me explain to you who he is. He was once a friend of mine...And I used to wear his tight ass jeans when I was on tour and get called names for it... [He was] somebody who actually had a vision and was not put in a position of power. Cuz I'm telling you, my friend, they be sellin' you bullshit. And Hedi Slimane was a guy who didn't serve no bullshit...But a God to recognize another God. But a God needs to recognize another God. So when he told me you can come to my show, but you can't come to see Phoebe and you can't come to see Riccardo, that was odd," he yelled into the microphone, presumably referring to designers Riccardo Tisci and Phoebe Philo. "He tried to control me! He tried to tell me where I could go!"

Kanye then went on to express his displeasure with the way he's been reportedly treated at Nike, saying that it wasn't his fault the hotly anticipated Red Octobers hadn't yet dropped.

Kanye has never taken well to feeling undermined, especially in a realm where he feels he's king, (er, everywhere). And if it takes a ten minute, autotuned, self-proclaimed "visionary stream of consciousness" to help the rapper unload some of these issues he's fighting, these weights that bear heavily upon his shoulders, that's fine. Go right ahead, Kanye. The fans are here to listen, after all.

The Hedi Slimane and Nike portion of the rant begin at 4:10. 

[via Karl Gatsby on YouTube]

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