The latest in Dr. Kanye West’s saga of art student mentorship took place at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College on Friday—the first time he’s been back since he fulfilled a community service sentence by teaching there. Compared to his controversial lecture at Oxford in March, his message comes across as surprisingly modest, even sobering. Complex recorded the speech in its entirety, but here are a few hand-picked observations and pieces of advice the soon-to-be father of two dropped, ranging from the hard work to the mild existential dread that can drive creativity, particularly when it comes to West’s second love of fashion design.
On Wanting to Be a Designer:
“When kids tell their parents they want to be a fashion designer, its usually not met with the same response as traditional career choices.”
Videos by VICE
On Career Choices:
“The most successful artists are as close to who they were five years old, or four years old, or three years old, or when my daughter wakes up and changes her career seven times a day.”
“Kanye West 2010-10-21 001” by Fabien / Universal Music – mynewsdesk. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
On Youth:
“Use your youth, use this time you have to learn as much as possible, to educate yourself, to hone your craft.”
On Hard Work:
“The average celebrity designer, their fingers don’t get bloody, they don’t pick up needles. They don’t know how to sew. They don’t know how to pattern cut. And I can pin, a little bit, but I don’t know how to pattern cut. And I respect people who have a craft. Who have taken the time to really… hone their craft, and deliver something of quality, of passion to the world.”
On Ego:
“It’s a tough world out there. You gotta prepare yourself for politics, bad bosses, hating employees. And usually, when you’re the absolute best, you get hated on the most.”
“Kanye West At the Big Chill 2011” by Paul.Cook – Kanye West. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
On Perseverance:
“Never stop fighting, no matter what anyone says. No matter how they try to compromise you, compromise your vision. If it’s in your gut, if it’s in your soul, there’s nothing, no worldly possessions that should come between you and your expression.”
On Life’s Meaning:
“As a race, human beings are a blip in existence. Death is promised. So what do you do with your life? How do you make the most of it? How do you make your voice the loudest?”
Related:
More
From VICE
-
Screenshot: Xbox -
Screenshot: PlayStation -
Charles Harker/Getty Images -
Nazar Abbas Photography/Getty Images
