Kanye West’s music is an outlet for his "mental issues".
The 41-year-old rapper is gearing up to release his new album ‘Ye’, and has said that being able to sit down and pen lyrics is a great way to deal with his mental health, as it makes him feel "all good" to put his thoughts down on paper.
He said: "I’m so blessed and so privileged because think about people that have mental issues that are not Kanye West, that can’t go and make that [album] and make you feel like it’s all good."
The ‘Heartless’ rapper went on to talk about the name of his album, claiming that whilst ‘Ye’ forms part of his name, it is also used in the Bible to mean "you", and is therefore an album for everyone.
He added to radio host Big Boy during an interview at the listening party event for his new album: "I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means ‘you’. So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just ‘Ye’ – just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are."
Kanye’s album touches on some of the controversial events surrounding him and his family over recent months, including Tristan Thompson’s alleged cheating scandal against Kanye’s sister-in-law Khloe Kardashian, and the divisive comments Kanye made in reference to slavery and US president Donald Trump.
The ‘Stronger’ rapper previously declared that slavery was a "choice" for black people when he said: "When you hear about slavery for 400 years … for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. We’re mentally imprisoned."
And on his album, Kanye reveals his wife Kim Kardashian West was furious at him for his controversial comments.
He raps on one track: "They say, ‘Build your own,’ I said, ‘How, Sway?’ I said, ‘Slavery a choice,’ they say, ‘How, Ye?’ Just imagine if they caught me on a wild day, Now I’m on fifty blogs gettin’ fifty calls, My wife callin’, screamin’, say, ‘We ’bout to lose it all!’, Had to calm her down ’cause she couldn’t breathe, Told her she could leave me now, but she wouldn’t leave."
Kanye West uses music as an outlet
