I got to meet Kanye West because we were shopping my artist deal, and I was interested in his label. When I met him, I played him all the records I had. He introduced me to Rihanna, and she recorded and cut some of those records.
I'm so humble it's crazy. I'm like the Kanye West of humility.
I think it would be different to work with a guy like Kanye West or Jay-Z, those guys are so phenomenal, but just to work with a rapper, I don't think is really my thing. I really like songs, like true songs. Like indie songs.
I love the Kanye West, I respect the Kanye West, but his wife look like fat penguin. She eat too much cheeseburger and she have no moderation.
Every record has been very different, so I can't really compare them. The first record was good. I originally recorded about half the songs on that one in 2003 or something, and then I went back a few years later and re-recorded them and added some other songs.
I miss the old Kanye, straight from the 'Go Kanye, Chop up the soul Kanye, set on his goals Kanye, I hate the new Kanye, the bad mood Kanye, The always rude Kanye, spaz in the news Kanye...
Back in the day, rappers were 'bump bump bump ba bump ba bump.' They was rhyming like that, but I was like, 'bababa bump bump babum ba babump bababa bump.'
I love these dudes, but I don't know what they're doing with all that facial hair these days. There's a lot of peach fuzz going on. They called me up to go to a Kanye West concert, and I was like 'hold on I'll call Kanye.' So I called him and they got into the show, and I called Kanye later and said, 'Yo did you see my dudes from Panic! at the show?' and he was like 'Nah they mst not have been dressed like they were from the 1700's'. But I back them. They have their own unique style, which is cool.
When I met with Peter Angell, the producer of the CD, we talked about my idea to do songs that I loved and songs that I wished I had recorded. Peter suggested that we pick some songs and see how they work with you and try to come up with arrangements and ideas about how you might want to do them.
Justin Vernon is one of the collaborators Kanye will always go to. He doesn't fit in with any genres - you never know if he's gonna sing, like, the Bee Gees or some crazy, distorted thing. And you don't know what he's saying half the time. He's kind of like Michael McDonald, like he's got marbles in his mouth.
Honestly, if you want me to keep it 100, Marilyn Manson has as much style as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. He has a lot of style. I'm telling you, it's crazy. It might be a little darker, but it's crazy.
If you like strange, specific stuff - that's a nerd. Kanye West is a black nerd. He likes strange, specific stuff. If you go up to Kanye West and say, 'Hey, what are your favorite things?' He'll be like, 'Robots and teddy bears.' That's a nerd.
I love classical. I have a lot of, like, Bach and Mozart and stuff. Then you flip on over, and I've got, like, Kanye West and, you know, just a bunch of - I am very eclectic. I love every sort of music.
I think that my biggest influences are electronic acts. Daft Punk is probably my number 1, then Kanye West would be number 2 after that.
My take, after spending some time with him, is that Kanye West is not a conservative. He's not a Republican, but he is a free thinker, and he's an independent thinker.
'I mean, [Kanye West] is called me a b***h in his songs. That's just, like, what they say. I never once think, [gasping] 'What a derogatory word! How dare he?' Not in a million years.'