Kanye West Addresses Taylor Swift Controversy During Concert

Life of Pablo rapper claims he was saying "what everybody else was thinking"

Kanye West is talking about Taylor Swift again.

The Life of Pablo rapper put on his first concert since releasing his latest album and opened up about the 2009 MTV VMAs where he famously interrupted Swift's acceptance speech. After performing his controversial track "Famous," in which he claims he was responsible for launching the "Style" singer's career ("I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous."), he defended his actions.

Calling it "the beginning of the end of my life," West explained that he was only saying "what everybody else was thinking" when he stormed the stage out of solidarity for his friend Beyoncé. In addition to re-explaining why he interrupted the 26-year-old songstress, the Yeezus rapper also defended "Famous," which he performed twice despite calling the experience of performing it live "really overwhelming."

"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," 'Ye told the crowd during his concert. "Lady Gaga canceled the tour the next day. You know what night I'm talking about."

He continued, "So 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."

Shortly after Kanye released "Famous" as the album's first single, he took to Twitter to share his side of the story. "I did not diss Taylor Swift and I've never dissed her..." he tweeted. "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 [Kim Kardashian] 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 camp denied any supposed reach out. "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single 'Famous' on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message," her rep told E! News, adding, "Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that bitch famous.'"