Image copyright PA Image caption Kanye West recently recorded a song defending his support for Donald Trump
US rapper Kanye West has said the enslavement of African Americans over centuries may have been a "choice".
"When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice," he said during an appearance on entertainment site TMZ.
"We're mentally imprisoned," the star added. He recently made headlines for his support for President Trump.
Black people were forcibly brought from Africa to the US during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and sold as slaves.
Skip Twitter post by @TMZ Kanye West stirs up the TMZ newsroom over TRUMP, SLAVERY and FREE THOUGHT. There's A LOT more that went down ... and the fireworks are exploding on @TMZLive today. Check your local listings for show times. pic.twitter.com/jwVsJCMPiq — TMZ (@TMZ) May 1, 2018 Report
West later tweeted that his comments on Tuesday had been misinterpreted and that he "brought up the 400 years point because we can't be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years".
Skip Twitter post by @kanyewest to make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 1, 2018 Report
To the interviewers at TMZ, West said that "right now we're choosing to be enslaved", which provoked an angry response from a black member of staff at the company, Van Lathan.
Mr Lathan said the rapper's comments appeared to be made with "the absence of thought".
"You're entitled to believe whatever you want, but there is fact and real-world, real-life consequence behind everything that you just said," he added as the star stood still stroking his chin.
"We have to deal with the marginalisation that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice," Mr Lathan continued, adding: "I'm appalled, and brother I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something to me that isn't real."
In the TMZ footage, West refers to Mr Trump as "my boy" and says that the president is "one of rap's favourite people".
His comments sparked a backlash on social media with some Twitter users suggesting the rapper should revisit the history books.
It comes just days after West released a song defending his support for Mr Trump, who he has insisted is "fighting for the people".
The controversial track, Ye vs The People, caused a stir among rappers, including Snoop Dogg, who appeared offended by its lyrical content.
"Like a gang truce, the first Blood to shake the Crip's hand," West raps, referring to a peace agreement between two notorious Los Angeles street gangs.
West has courted controversy with his support for Mr Trump and conservative commentators like Scott Adams and Candace Owens, who has spoken out against the Black Lives Matter movement.
(CNN) Kanye West had a lot to say when in his lengthy interview with radio host Charlamagne Tha God.
The rapper opened up about his mental health, family, art, his beef with Jay-Z and his complicated relationship with former President Barack Obama.
The nearly two-hour interview released Tuesday but according to a tweet from Charlamagne Tha God , their conversation was recorded on April 18, a few days after West resurfaced on Twitter to share a series of tweets that have prompted fans and critics to question his mental wellness
West wants an apology from President Barack Obama
West said he wants an apology from Obama, who called him a "jacka**" in 2009 for interrupting Taylor Swift's speech at the MTV Video Music Awards.
"Sometimes a conversation can help show respect for a situation," West said. "'I'm the leader of the free world, Ye, I'm sorry for calling you a jacka**. I appreciate your honesty. I appreciate your Gemini, your Tupacness. I appreciate that someone is going to do it, but I'm president and I can't do it.'"
West on his 2016 "breakthrough"
West addressed his 2016 hospitalization, an incident he prefers to call a "breakthrough" rather than a "breakdown." A source at the time told CNN that West was treated for exhaustion . West said his wife Kim Kardashian-West's robbery in 2016 weighed on him heavily. He also cited other reasons that may have contributed to his health problems.
"Being in competition with so many elements at one time. On a race against time, your age, you're getting old, race against popularity on the radio. 'Saint Pablo' ain't playing," West said, referring to his hospitalization. West added that he's "happy it happened," but recalled a "traumatizing" moment when hospital staff separated him from his friends, whom he'd asked to stay present.
"When you're in the hospital bed and you're next to your friend and you tell them, 'Don't let this person leave my side' and they put you inside an elevator and take all your friends away from you, that was the scariest moment of my life," he said. "That's something that has to change."
"Ever since the Taylor Swift moment, it's never been the same"
West said he thinks his beef with Taylor Swift is the reason his songs don't get much airtime on the radio. After the infamous VMA interruption in 2009, West and Swift had another dispute in 2016 over whether she approved lyrics West wrote in his song "Famous," in which he said, "Me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b**** famous."
"Every since the Taylor Swift moment, it's never been the same," he said. "The connection with radio. It's like whatever powers that be it was much harder after that."
Presidential aspirations
West also discussed what he believes is Obama's failure to reduce violence in their shared hometown of Chicago, but acknowledged the president's job is difficult.
"I might be president one day," West said midway through the interview. "I might be in that situation where it's harder for me to explain to the masses why something isn't happening that they feel the concept of a president should be able to fix."
West's preferred method for therapy
West said he is on medication, but he is not talking to a professional therapist.
"I use the world as my therapy," he said. "Anyone I talk to is my therapist. I will pull them into the conversation of what I'm feeling at that point and get their perspective ... I'll talk through things, anybody that I'm around and I put that as advice to people, use people around you as your therapist because they probably know more about you."
He didn't specify what medication he is uses, but he did say "it's an imperfect solution. It helps calm me down ... there's power in being controlled and calm."
He hasn't seen Jay-Z, but they're "good"
West talked about why he Jay-Z have apparently drifted apart over the years. West said although they haven't seen each other recently, they do keep in touch.
"We good. We're texting each other as positive energy," he said. "I haven't seen him, but I can feel him."
He admitted that he was "hurt" that Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé did not attend his 2014 wedding to Kardashian.
"You know, I gotta say I was hurt about them not coming to the wedding," he said. "I understand they were going through some things. If it's family then you know you're not going to miss a wedding. I'm not using this interview to put any negative thing [out], but I have to state my truth."
The first was a man who opened up about his mental health, his family, and his art in a nearly-two hour interview with radio host Charlamagne Tha God.
The second was a Kanye who appeared at the TMZ headquarters where he had this to say:
"When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... For 400 years? That sounds like a choice."
The rapper went on to add:
"You were there for 400 years and it's all of y'all. It's like we're mentally imprisoned."
Provocative statements are second nature to the 40-year-old rapper. And this week he's been making headlines left and right, including proclaiming his love for President Trump
But when he made his off-handed remark about slavery, TMZ employee Van Lathan took him to task for it.
An employee confronts him
"While you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you've earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives," Lathan said. "We have to deal with the marginalization that's come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice."
Lathan added, "Frankly, I'm disappointed, I'm appalled, and brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something to me, that's not real."
Kanye tries to explain
As his words lit Twitter on fire, Kanye tried to explain what he meant. Here is his series of tweets Tuesday evening:
"[T]o make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will. My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved."
And then Kanye quickly made it about Kanye:
"[T]he reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can't be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years. We need free thought now. Even the statement was an example of free thought. It was just an idea. [O]nce again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas."
In a confrontation in the TMZ newsroom, the rapper talks about his view on slavery as well as reaffirming his support for Donald Trump
Kanye West has said that 400 years of slavery is “a choice” in a TMZ interview that resulted in a confrontation.
Surgeon who operated on Kanye West's mother before her death asks to be to removed from album artwork Read more
The rapper, who has been tweeting out support for Donald Trump in recent weeks, was talking about the president, free thinking and labels before he moved onto slavery.
“When you hear about slavery for 400 years,” he said. “For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally in prison. I like the word prison because slavery goes too direct to the idea of blacks. Slavery is to blacks as the Holocaust is to Jews. Prison is something that unites as one race, blacks and whites, that we’re the human race.”
He then proceeded to talk directly to the entire office before TMZ reporter Van Lathan shot back at him for his comments. “I actually don’t think you’re thinking anything,” he said.
He continued: “While you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you’ve earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives.” Lathan said he was “unbelievably hurt” about Kanye morphing into something that’s “not real”.
West’s comments were met by anger and incredulity. Fellow rapper Will.i.am told Good Morning Britain that West’s comments were “ignorant” and “broke my heart ... when you’re a slaved, you’re owned... that’s not choice, that’s by force.” Prominent civil rights activist Deray McKesson said West “continues to fuel the racist right-wing folks who believe that black people are responsible for their oppression,” while fellow activist and TV host Marc Lamont Hill wrote: “There has never been a moment in history when Black people didn’t resist slavery... Our resistance led to our freedom.”
Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) There has NEVER been a moment in history when Black people didn't resist slavery. Some did it by jumping off ships. Some killed masters. Some ran away. Some did it through everyday forms of resistance. Slave masters didn't retire. Our resistance led to our freedom.
deray (@deray) Kanye’s rhetoric continues to fuel the racist right-wing folks who believe that black people are responsible for their oppression.
Earlier in the conversation, West reaffirmed his support for Trump calling him his “boy” and explaining why he tweeted a picture wearing a Make America Great Again cap. “I felt a freedom in doing something that everybody tells you not to do,” he said.
West’s return to the spotlight has preceded the release of two new albums out in June. The rapper dropped two new tracks last weekend, including Ye Vs the People, where he elaborated on his support for Trump with another nod to slavery: “See that’s the problem with this damn nation / All blacks gotta be Democrats, man, we ain’t made it off the plantation”. Referring to the Make America Great Again cap also worn by Trump, he rapped: “Make America Great Again had a negative perception / I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new direction / Added empathy, care and love and affection.”
In the wake of his comments on slavery, West wrote on Twitter: “Once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas”. He also posted a quote from 19th-century antislavery activist Harriet Tubman: “I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves,” suggesting an ongoing kind of slavery, a topic he explored previously in his 2013 track New Slaves. “You know that niggas can’t read / Throw ‘em some Maybach keys,” he rapped. “Spending everything on [designer] Alexander Wang: new slaves.”
Today also saw the release of an hour-long interview with radio host Charlamagne tha God which saw West say he’s in “a stronger place” than he’s ever been, and that he was taking an unspecified medication – “an imperfect solution, it helps calm me down” – in the wake of a two-week spell in hospital in 2016 following a mental breakdown he now characterises as a “breakthrough”.
He also expressed hurt over Barack Obama calling him a “jackass” in 2009. “Don’t tell the world I’m a jackass,” he said. “I’m fighting hard enough. Something about me going on stage was similar to what you was doing. ’Cause I’m fighting to break the simulation, break the setup. That didn’t make no sense.”
In the same interview, West also briefly touched upon slavery and Tubman. “When I saw Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, that’s when I wanted to use bitcoin,” he said. “It’s like all the slave movies. Why you gotta keep reminding us about slavery? Why don’t you put Michael Jordan on the $20 bill?”
