“I Love Seeing Kim’s Naked Body,” Says Kanye West

KW: Is the face a body part? My
favorite body part of Kim’s: heart.

KKW: Awww, now I have to say the
same. But of my own, I like my upper stomach. I just seem to always have
abs.When I’m not really pregnant, I have a great two-pack. [Laughs.] And of
Kanye’s? I have to say his heart. And I’ve always loved his legs.

LB: Favorite song of all time?

KW:”All Along the
Watchtower.” The Jimi Hendrix cover.

KKW: I really like the song
“Only One” [West with Paul McCartney].

LB: Favorite Taylor Swift song?

KW: For me? I don’t have one.

KKW: I was such a fan of hers.

LB: Favorite book?

KKW: Embraced by the Light. It’s
about a woman who passed away during surgery, and she went to heaven, had her
experience, and then came back. My dad [Robert Kardashian] would try to get me
to read it, and I wouldn’t. Then when he passed away, I was cleaning out my
room in his house, and I found it. I read it, and it helped me. I felt like my
dad was okay.

KW: Yeah, I don’t have an answer for
that.

KKW: Your mom’s book or your book?

KW: Yeah, but that’s like, you
know…

KKW: Too self-promotional?

KW: Yeah, too promotional.

LB: Celebrity crush when you were
young?

KKW: I thought Johnny Depp was so
cute when I was younger. Kanye, didn’t you like Pam Anderson?

KW: Yeah! That’s what I would say.

LB: Historical figure you identify
with?

KKW: This one is hard.

KW: Us? Muhammad Ali, Marilyn
Monroe—all day. Next question.

LB: Hidden talent? I don’t know if
you guys hide your talents, but if you do …

KKW: I can smell when someone has a
cavity. It’s a very specific smell—not a bad-breath smell—but something that is
really strong.

KW: I can analyze people’s
intentions. Immediately.That’s just a warning. To everyone.

LB: Biggest insecurity?

KKW: I would say looking fat sometimes. I really do take it seriously. I try to
do what I can and diet and stay in shape, and it does make me insecure when I’m
heavy.

KW: I used to have insecurity about
my finances, then I announced that I had debt, and now I don’t have any
insecurities.

KKW: Then you didn’t have any debt;
it seemed to all figure it out.

LB: You just put it out there, like
The Secret.

KKW: Don’t think that will work for
everyone.

KW: People will definitely use that
against you if someone knows that. But the one thing I don’t have an insecurity
about is public perception. I’m not going to conform to it, you know?

LB: Yes, the more attention you pay
to the winds, you can overthink things.

KW: Here’s something that’s contrary
to popular belief: I actually don’t like thinking. I think people think I like
to think a lot. And I don’t. I do not like to think at all.

LB: You’re an underthinker.

KW: I think about things to put them
in a place where I don’t have to think about them anymore. Say if I had a child
with a really bad mom, I would have to think more than if I had a child with a
good mom. I’m just doing my homework early. I told my trainer today, I’m a mix
of a 14-year-old high schooler and a 60-year-old guy. It can never fall into
the 30s or the 40s. It has to be 100 percent 60 or 100 percent 14, no in
between.

LB: Can you please make that into a
T-shirt? Okay, how much do you really sleep? On social media you are asleep all
the time.

KKW: He can fall asleep anywhere.

KW: I can sleep. I love sleep; it’s
my favorite.

KKW: He took me to a fashion meeting
in Paris once. I’d never met these people; I was so nervous. It was the
beginning of our relationship, and I didn’t know anyone in fashion. And he
passed out at the table. I’m like, “I’m so sorry, we’re jet-lagged.”
You don’t know the number of times I’ve had to say that. I always flat-out lie
that he’s jet-lagged, even if we’ve been home for months. [Laughs.] Me? I’m up
at like 6 a.m. With my trainer, running up the hill you drove up to get here.

LB: Most annoying habit?

KKW: I think he gets really annoyed
because I just hate fittings. I’ll just be like,”Ah, I can’t find something
to wear.” I get so worked up every time I’m rushing; I get annoyed with
rushing. Then I get in a bad mood—I’m so cranky. I hate being late.

KW: It’s so hard to do fittings [for
Yeezy] because we want to do things that are inspiring, that people could look
at and say, “Wow, I like that color palette, I could put that
together.” And there are so many images of things that it’s almost
impossible to have your clothes go up against the amount you’re seeing and
carry it into one language. That’s why I’m always fighting either to have a
house work with us or to head a house. It’s a lifestyle I can totally see: the
future, modern Versailles, modern Versace, modern Calabasas, paparazzi,
celebrity language. I just want to build a collection that’s around me and my
wife and my kids. Because Kris and the family, they have the power of
communication. This is the number one communications company.

LB: You’re saying you’ve got the
power of the idea.

KW: The idea. I know I wasn’t
allowed to go to fashion school; I can’t cut a dress like Galliano, right? But
I had enough wherewithal to go to that studio on my first collection and bring
Kim, [stylist] Christine Centenera, Ian Connor, Theophilus London, Virgil
Abloh…they all came down to [Vetements/Balenciaga designer] Demna Gvasalia’s
studio that night and hung out. (And then Demna, as you probably know, he
worked on Yeezy Season 1.) Anyway, I want to say a controversial thing for this
article…

LB: I’m ready.

KKW: Laura’s question was, What’s
annoying?

KW: What designer on the planet can
sell, consistently, 40,000 shoes. In two minutes?

KKW: One minute.

LB: Wow. Yeezy does it. Okay, change
of subject. Favorite selfie pose?

KKW: I love a selfie in the mirror.

KW: I love her nude selfies. Like, I
love the ones from the side, the back ones, and the front. I just love seeing
her naked; I love nudity. And I love beautiful shapes. I feel like it’s almost
a Renaissance thing, a painting, a modern version of a painting. I think it’s
important for Kim to have her figure. To not show it would be like Adele not
singing.

LB: Kanye, nude selfies?

KW: I used to do nude selfies in my
single days.You’d get a good cock shot here and there. [Laughs.] Gotta keep it
rock ‘n’ roll.

LB: I’d assume scale is important.

KW: Yeah, it’s all about scale. You
don’t become a rock star for no reason.

LB: Who’s more vain?

KKW: I mean, me.

KW: Yeah, I think she has vanity.
And with me, I don’t give a fuck, bro; it is what it is. I’m the best—now what?
I don’t know if that’s a vain statement. I don’t particularly like photos of
myself, though.

KKW: Yeah, what is the definition of vain? I want to look up exactly what
the definition is.[Googles.] Vain, definition: “having or showing an
excessively high opinion of one’s appearance, abilities, or worth.”

LB: Speaking of pride, tweets you’re
proud of and tweets you regret.

KKW: I don’t regret any tweets. I’m
not a tweeter and deleter. So I have no regrets.

KW: She hates tweeters and deleters.

LB: Kim, blonde or brunette?

KKW: Blonde. Brunette is who I am
obviously, it’s my core. Blonde Kim is this alter ego; she has a vibe to her
that I love.

LB: Could you have predicted the
reaction to your nude selfie with the black bars?

KKW: I was about to get in the
shower; I took a nude selfie, kept it in my phone for over a year. I just liked
the picture, so I was like,”Let me put censor bars on it and post
it.” I don’t do things to be like, “This is powerful. I’m going to
show you guys that this is my ‘message.”’ I’m not that type of person. I’m empowered
by it, but I’m not doing it specifically to show power.

LB: It was a weird response because
we’ve all seen your body before.

KKW: Yeah, that’s what was so
shocking. And when I put the bars on it, it was more covered up than a bikini!

LB: What was the last thing you
bought yourselves and each other?

KKW: The last thing I bought was a
pair of Isabel Marant sandals. I don’t wear flats, so it’s hard for me to buy
sandals. Kanye is the hardest person to buy something for, so I bought…

KW: You extended the bathroom and
bedroom on the house.

KKW: I rented an island for his
birthday. A far, far away place where no one can find us.

KW: You see, those are the type of
statements that make people not like us, more so than the “I’m the
best” statement. It’s more the “Oh, yeah, I just rented an island for
his birthday …” You know in Meet the Parents, Owen Wilson’s character?
All of our shit is like Owen Wilson’s character; he’s like, “This is when
we jumped off Mount Everest, and we wore turtle flight suits or whatever.”

LB: Is there anything you wish the
world didn’t know about you?

KKW: Definitely. I was going to say
some ugly looks and stuff.

KW: Some pregnancy stuff. You killed
this second pregnancy, though.Your body slammed that crap. You made that second
pregnancy your bitch.

KKW: I wish I had a little bit more
privacy.

LB: Okay, TV shows you binge-watch?

KW/KKW: Empire.

LB: What would you do if you were
invisible?

KW: Women’s locker room.

KKW: I would probably creepily
follow my kids around, see how they act, see what they talk about. I record my
daughter just talking because the things she says are so funny. I could watch
her talk all day.

KW: Yeah, maybe. See, Kim? Yours is
so much nicer than mine.

LB: What makes you both laugh?

KKW: Kanye just says the funniest
analogies that are so random. I should start keeping a book—in 20 years, I’ll
have a big book of analogies.They always make me laugh.

KW: Kim’s just a funny person in
general.

KKW: But I don’t get credit for
being funny; it’s, like, not a thing.

KW: I think my sense of humor is
really dark and super twisted and stuff like that. It’s like, “Is this a
funny joke for real? Or am I just rich?” See? That was funny.

LB: What would you bring to a desert
island?

KKW: My kids. My phone.

KW: Not me. [Laughs.] I would bring
my laptop and the Internet.

LB: How would you like to be
remembered?

KKW: I’d like to be remembered as
someone who was smart in business, works hard, and can be sexy and a mom. A
powerful but still sexy, nonconforming woman. And I would hope that Kanye would
be remembered for being smart and sticking to what he believes.

KW: Determined. I would say my
determination is way higher than my smartness.

KKW: A lot of people have strong
beliefs, but they don’t have the confidence to really stick to them. I really
respect Kanye for that.

LB: I personally really enjoy your
use of capital letters.

KW: Yeah, all caps. Next time I’m
doing all raps in all caps.

KKW: Kanye, what do you want to be
remembered for?

KW: Your answer was so much better.
I was going to say the whole thing about global warming and we’re all going to
be gone.

Culled: www.harpersbazaar.com