Kanye West continues to defend himself. The Life of Pablo rapper performed during the Paradise International Music Festival in Manila, Philippines, on Saturday, April 9, and addressed his on-again, off-again feud with Taylor Swift.
West, 38, said that when he famously interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech during the 2009 MTV VMAs it was “the beginning of the end of my life,” but that he was saying “what everybody else was thinking.” West stole the mic during Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video and argued that Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” should have won.
West made amends with the country-turned-pop star, 26, following the altercation, but he has since ruffled Swift’s feathers with his new track “Famous.” In the song, West claims responsibility for launching Swift’s career and raps, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”
During his performance on Saturday, Kim Kardashian’s hubby sang the song twice, defending his choice words.
“This is the song that broke the writer’s block for me, because it’s something I wanted to say so bad that they told me I couldn’t say,” Yeezy told the crowd. “If I get in trouble for saying the truth, what’s being said the rest of the time? And I had to fight every day of my life, with the whole world turned against me, for saying out loud what everyone else felt. But that’s the job of an artist, of a true artist: not to be controlled by their finances, not to be controlled by perceptions, but only to be controlled by their truth.”
West previously defended the controversial track after his massive Yeezy Season 3 release party back in February. During a Twitter rant, West claimed that Swift was aware of the lyric.
“I did not diss Taylor Swift and I’ve never dissed her …” he wrote. “First thing is I’m an artist and as an artist I will express how I feel with no censorship. 2nd thing I asked my wife for her blessings and she was cool with it. 3rd thing I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings.”
Swift’s rep later denied that Swift gave the rapper approval, stating that she wasn’t even made aware of the specific lyric until it was released.
