When you hand him a mic—or a seat on the couch—Kanye West is pretty much an open book.
If a year filled with tireless Twitter rants and even a declaration of presidency is any indication, the Grammy-winning rapper has no qualms about speaking his mind regardless of the backlash he might incur. Whether it was his 2015 VMA Video Vanguard Award speech (you know—the one where he announced a potential run for the White House) or his most recent appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime couch, there is overwhelming evidence to support the notion that yes, West says what he thinks at any given time.
However, while his most recent public admissions are fresh on fans' minds, many may not realize the Grammy winner has been sharing his deepest thoughts without edit years before Instagram selfies were a daily routine and Taylor Swift claimed an all-girl squad.
Sure, he infamously interrupted Swift's 2009 MTV Video Music Award speech to hail Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" music video as one of the best videos of all time, but that was just one of the many live moments when the father of two spoke out in the name of his aesthetic.
Here's a walk down memory lane to revisit all of the fiercely honest interview moments when Kanye refused to sugarcoat his thoughts:
Despite the launch of his faux presidential campaign in 2015, two years earlier, West told Jimmy Kimmel he was not about to run for president, but he did consider himself something equally prestigious.
"I'm not running for office, I'm just here to make good music, make people feel good," he said. "For me, I'm a creative genius and there's no other way to word it, and I know you're not supposed to say those things about yourself."
"I'm totally weird," West acknowledged. "I'm totally honest and I'm totally inappropriate sometimes. For me to say I wasn't a genius, I would just be lying to you and to myself."
During a 2014 interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Life of Pablo performer alluded to the fact that he had little interest in the attention fame awarded him.
"I feel like it's a necessity for an artist like me, like a very punk forward artist, to be on SNL that many times, to be on TV. That's why I do TV, that's why I do talk shows—I could care less about these cameras," he admitted.
"What I care about is history, I care about people. I care about you guys getting the best product possible."
Following the tragic death of his mother, West appeared on The View to promote his latest album, though his attentions quickly turned to the motives of his fellow artists.
"A lot of artists get so caught up in what the fans what them to do and what they've done before that they don't express themself at the point they're at," he said earnestly.
Seven years before he told DeGeneres he wanted to the "Michael Jackson of apparel," he pledged his allegiance to the culture army.
"I feel like in some ways I'm like a soldier of culture and I realize that no one wants that to be my job," he said.
"Will I feel convicted about things that really meant stuff to culture that constantly get denied for years and years and years and years? I'm sorry. I will. I cannot lie about it in order to sell records."