Kanye West - On Genius and Fashion lyrics

Wait a second
Would you rather me not talk at
All? ’Cause I don’t want to
Like, I don’t want to rattle no cages
Or nothing, I don’t want to like
I don’t want to get in trouble i
Want to be scared i’m trying my
Best to be scared i’m trying my hardest
To be scared no, no, no
I don’t want to talk i don’t
Want to talk at all as
A matter of fact I’m just
Going to tip-toe on this

I’m scared of anonymous comments
Online i’m scared
Of them these words affect me
So much they affect me so much
No, I’m sorry i’m scared, i’m scared
I’m scared of these corporations, like
Not giving me another deal that they didn’t


Give me already i’m scared i’m scared
I’m so shook i’m so
So scared so scared soooo

You ain’t never seen, you ain’t ever
Seen, that my great, great, great
Granddaddy somehow ended up on that boat
Somehow he ended up on that
Boat but I know that we were
Royalty i know we built
The pyramids i know anything is
Possible i know anything
Is possible and everybody has
A moment in time and I picked y’all when I
Was walking in Madison
Square Garden, I just wanted to make sure
Thank y’all for giving me this
Moment in time ’Cause
Everybody has a moment and in your moment
You gotta own it there’s so many people have
A moment and they don’t own it

You know
It’s so funny when people compliment me
And they say the word
Genius, and somehow that like, separates me
From rappers in some way
There’s the connotation of that but what
I need y’all to realize
Is Jay Z is a genius and I need y’all
To understand that Drake is a
Genius i need y’all to
Understand that rap is an amazing
Way to express genius

’Cause just as an architect
Would build buildings
We put our words together to
Express the shit that we going through
We are the modern day poets
Obviously but why are so
Many writers so condescending
To the rappers? Why do they try to
Classify us as musicians as
Being ignorant in some
Way? Why do they try to classify
Us, as far as the classes go?
You know how it goes
Right? I think it’s like a
Battle between art and
Architecture as the top and if you’re an
Artist or an architect
You look down upon a fashion
Designer and if you’re a
Fashion designer, you look down upon a
Musician and if you a musician
You sign a deal with a corporation so
You can buy a bigger house
And every time you go in the
Studio you watch your fucking mouth

You watch, you watch your
Fucking mouth you don’t, you don’t want
To lose this house but when
They write these history books
They’re not going to talk about what
House we had when they
Write the history books they aren’t
Going to talk about the
Money we made they’re going to
Talk about the impact we
Had they’re going to talk about
The impact we had
And being that I saw The Hunger Games
Today, I wanted to bring up something
Because it was very inspiring
It felt like almost a mimic of my exact life
And shit i know it i was like
"Baby we gotta be on
That movie board when they writing this
Shit" And I saw Lenny
Kravitz there wouldn’t be no song
Called "Niggas in Paris"
If it wasn’t for Lenny Kravitz
’Cause that was the first
Nigga in Paris fucking with
The models and shit
Rocking Rick Owens head-to-toe and
Shit black rock star

But what’s interesting to me is
Like I was fond
Of hanging out with different
People, in Paris, right
’Cause Lenny Kravitz has like
The best taste and
He has like the dopest crib in Paris
Everybody knows about it and
I don’t know if you know this, but
He designs furniture, he
Designs lighting fixtures
And he had been working
On a clothing line for a
Long, long, long, long
Long, long, long time long
Time long, long, long, long time

And the designers would love it when Lenny
Kravitz would show up at their
Fashion show yeah we gonna take some
Pictures of Lenny Kravitz and we
Gonna say he’s at the such and such show
And that’s gonna promote
Our brand hey Lenny, promote it the
Best you can hey Lenny, promote it
The best you can hey Lenny
Promote it the best you can best
You can hey Kanye, promote it the
Best you can hey Kanye, promote us
The best you can from Paris to
New York all the way to
Japan hey Kanye, I mean Lenny, I
Mean any of you niggas
Promote it the best you can any of you
Niggas promote if the best you can

So I said, "Wait a second, though" I said
"I’ve got a dream
Of doing my clothing and I, I
Want to learn about furniture
" and you know what they told me when I was
In Paris? You know when the
W Magazine writer came
Out and wrote that classist-ass interview
About me? You know what
They said? You know what
The billionaires told me?
I went to about three
Or four different people
And you know what they told me
When I told them about my dreams? They
Said, "Lenny Kravitz wanted the same
Same thing" They
Said, "Lenny Kravitz wanted the same
Same thing" Don’t let me sing
Because I want y’all
To understand that I need to talk to
You they told me, "Hey that’s cute
That’s the same thing Lenny
Wanted to do" Like
It’s a motherfucking joke it wouldn’t be
No Kanye west if it wasn’t for Lenny
Kravitz you know what I’m saying?

But the only difference between
Me and Lenny Kravitz
Is I turned up on these niggas
I don’t give a fuck about looking cool
Or being cool and this is
No disrespect to Lenny but they
Got this shit called cool
Everybody want to look
Cool, everybody want to be cool
Everybody don’t
Want to break their motherfucking cool
Don’t nobody want to look like a fool
My boy, who used to work for Donda and now
Designs stages for Jay Z and
Justin the other day he said a
Word that I hadn’t heard people
Say before and he said he
Was working at some corporation
And the head
Of the corporation is always like, kind
Of down on him and shit, and the word was to
Marginalize to marginalize
And then he also said he tried
To make him look like an
Idiot in front of people
Right? So has anyone here tonight ever
Read a piece of press or
Saw something or heard something on
The radio where they tried
To make me look like an idiot?
Wait a second, I don’t know
Have you ever heard anything
In the press where they’re trying to make me
Look stupid? You know what I’m saying
Like I’m actually stupid
(Laughs) You know what I’m saying, like
I’m not smart, like stupid like
Like what the fuck is
Wrong with him? You know
What I’m saying? Have
Y’all ever read or heard someone say
"I don’t like Kanye West"?

I’ll tell you something have you ever
Heard anyone talk shit about
Lenny Kravitz though? He’s a nice
Guy he’s a nice guy he’s so well mannered i
Envy manners i envy it
I envy people who are extremely
Likeable i’m like, "Damn
I wish I could be likeable like them" I
Wish people would like me like that

So what they basically did was
At Fashion Week… Let me explain something to
You… I don’t give a fuck
About fashion i care about talent i
Care about creativity and it
Just so happens that with the advent
Of the Louis Vuitton bag
Fashion rise to the
Top, and stole all of the creativity to
Only work for it's small box
And sell it back to you at a higher price
That’s what the fuck fashion is to me
I care about dreamers i care about heart i
Care about soul not those
Who are marginalized

So if you think about someone like
McQueen instead of being forced
To make some fucking T-shirts with
A skull on it, why wasn’t he allowed to make
Movies? He was just as good as Tarsem
He’s just a good a visualist as
Anyone else but they would
Marginalize him as only a
Fashion designer which
Let’s rewind, is above a music producer
And it’s above a rapper

’Cause you gotta stay in your tier, in
Your section you gotta stay right there
You can’t move but if
You pay for a ticket, you wanted to come to
See this show, and you standing right there
Right? And when you’re trying to go you say I
Want to go up there, a
Security guard stops you, and then
Holds you, and if you start
Screaming the paparazzi catch you, catch
You with your face looking all crazy
And then you scream out
Loud, and you got to really
Scream, you gotta say
"I am a god!" Just for them to
Let you a little bit up

And right there, i was scared right there I
Was scared ’Cause I
Thought that if I just went to their fashion
Show again and I just sat down like a good
Nigga they would let Lenny Kravitz get his
Shot! I thought maybe
Maybe they would let Pharell get
His shot but no, no, no fuck you, nigga fuck
You, nigga fuck you
Nigga is that abrasive enough for
You? ’Cause that’s what it is fuck you
Nigga is that abrasive enough for you?

And what about Mark Parker
And what about Hedi
Slimane? I thought Hedi Slimane
Was my friend, and that’s why I’m so hurt
How many names did people call
Me for wearing tight jeans
When I’m the rapper that wore
Tight jeans and shit
That brought tight jeans to the
Ghetto and shit? I thought
I was Hedi Slimane designing
Motherfuckin’ tight jeans
That you want i’m the nigga that
You know I’m rocking that shit then
He had his first fashion
Show, and I was so happy for
Him i was so, so, so happy
For him and he told me, you
Can come to my show
But you just can’t go to Riccardo’s show
And you can’t go to Phoebe’s show

But he wouldn’t say that to Anna
Wintour he wouldn’t say that to
And now his whole shit based
Off of rock and roll
And you trying to tell the number
One rock star on the planet where the fuck
He can go? So he can sell
Y’all, some motherfucking $10
000 pair of jeans?
Fuck fashion fuck fashion i mean, what’s the
Worst thing they gonna do
Not help me again? What’s the
Worst they gonna do tell
Me I can’t go to these shows again?
What’s the worst they gonna do, tell
Me that because I’m a musician
I don’t have any ideas for
Clothing again? What’s the
Worst they gonna do
Marginalize me again? And
Never let Pharrell get his shot
And never let Lenny get his shot?
But I’mma tell y’all right now
I will take that spot i am 2Pac of
This clothing shit and I’mma take that
Spot, and we gonna combine all the creators
The best creators
On the planet, and we gonna
Lower the motherfucking prices
So everybody can get it and
We ain’t gonna steal from people’s ideas
Like H&M and we ain’t gonna
Steal people’s ideas like Zara we gon’
Make our own shit we
Gon’ combine the best creators on the planet
And we gon’ take
Them from Harvard, and we gon’
Take them from St mark's
And we gon’ take ’em from the street

And I’m sorry I went so long
Tonight i know you just
Want to hear another motherfuckin’ hit
Song tonight i’m so
Sorry I went so long tonight
I know you just want
To hear another motherfuckin’ hit song
Tonight hit song tonight
Hit song tonight another hit song
Another hit song
Yes they do i ask people about it
I tell them that I’m this creator
And they say I need another hit song they
Say I need another hit
Song, hit song tonight, hit song

Hold up, hold up i’m sorry, if anyone
Out there thinks they can do anything
Put your hands up right motherfuckin’
Now! Almost forgot that part