Kanye West Talks Brands, Beats by Dre, Wedding Photos and More at Cannes

As previously reported, Kanye West was booked to speak at a Cannes seminar entitled “Technology, Culture, and Consumer Adoption: Learning to Read the Cultural Landscape.” Taking the stage, Kanye spoke at-length about a variety of subjects, touching on everything from one of the standout wedding photos with wife Kim Kardashian to how he believes the “world as a whole is f*cking ugly.” Adweek was there to report on Kanye’s speech, and have reported a variety of quotes from Yeezy, which can be viewed below. To view the full piece, visit Adweek online.

On Steve Jobs:

“Steve Jobs, as everyone knows, was my biggest influence. Just seeing the way he fought to make things easier for people. After he passed, I made it my life’s mission to do what he did inside of that company,” West said. “I dream to help raise the palette and raise the taste level of a generation and also be involved with the production and distribution and advertising of that thing everyone’s begging for.”

On brands and taste:

“People are less about the brand and more about self-confidence and how the brands can assist them, similar to what Steve was doing with tech,” West said. “This is my goal in lifestyle, in everyday life—to change the idea of what luxury is. Because time is the only luxury. It’s not all these brands that we just drove by that are somehow selling our esteem back to us through association.”

“When people think celebrity, which is the highest form of communication—we’re like walking networks or TV shows or brands in ourselves—you don’t think good taste,” he said. “And I believe that bad taste is vulgar. It’s like cursing. I think the world can be saved through design. Because what is the most distasteful thing someone can do? Kill someone. So, good taste is the opposite of that.”

On the wedding photo of him and wife Kim Kardashian kissing:

“This is pissing my girl off during the honeymoon,” he said. “Annie Leibovitz pulled out right before the wedding—maybe she was scared about the idea of celebrity. … But I still wanted my wedding photos to look like Annie Leibovitz. Now, can you imagine telling someone who just wants to Instagram a photo, the No. 1 person on Instagram, that we need to work on the color of the flowered wall? But the fact that the No. 1 most liked photo has this certain aesthetic on it was a win for what the mission is—of raising the palette.”

On Samsung and the Beats by Dre/Apple deal:

“There would have been no Beats deal without the Samsung deal. It showed the No. 1 company the importance of connecting with culture,” said West. “The reason I said I didn’t like Samsung particularly is because throughout my entire life, because of how my parents raised me, I have to work with the No. 1. I can’t work with anyone but Jay Z, because he’s No. 1. I can’t be with any girl but Kim, because that’s the girl whose pictures I look at the most and get turned on by. I’m not going to represent any company but Louis Vuitton, because that’s No. 1. … Samsung is not quite Apple, but it showed that Jimmy [Iovine] and Dre would be able to connect with the No. 1 influencers.”