“He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts!”
Kanye West is once again sparking discussion following a passionate parallel between himself and the late legend Kobe Bryant.
Leave it to Kanye West to make a variety of headlines off a single interview. On one hand, he’ll entice longtime fans with promising tidbits about his actual music, including the revelation that he’s getting back to rapping on his upcoming Dr. Dre-produced Jesus Is King II. On the other hand, his declarations tend to have the opposite effect and only serve to rub people the wrong way — even if they are delivered in a sincere fashion.
Take, for instance, his insistence that he and Kobe Bryant are reflections of one another, albeit in different fields. Made in a recent interview with GQ, Yeezy opened up about his connection to Bryant, one that stems from a place of genuine admiration, respect, and longtime friendship. “He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts!” says Kanye. “We got the commercials that prove it. No one else can say this. We came up at the same time, together.”
“And now it’s like, yeah, I might have had a reputation for screaming about things—but I’m not taking any mess for an answer now,” he continues, elaborating on how Kobe’s death has left him feeling a renewed sense of purpose. “We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ’em. We bringing home the trophies.” This of course sparked a ton of Twitter debates with many upset at Yeezy’s take. What do you make of Yeezy’s comparison — do you feel it’s an appropriate one to make? Take a look at some of the reactions below:
