” When Will Smith made the leap into having his own sitcom at the height of his rap popularity, the gamble paid off for Hollywood’s current leading man, as fans were able to accept the Fresh Prince in a new arena. When Eddie Murphy, at arguably the height of his acting career hit the world with his singing on “Party All The Time,” heads weren’t exactly hailing Murphy as the next pop sensation. Point being, it takes a lot for the public to see celebrities in a different light. Kanye West is undoubtedly well aware of it, and most likely doesn’t care whatsoever.
The 808’s & Heartbreak savant has earned his stripes in the music game, but now with help from author J. Sakiya Sandifer, decided to throw his hat into the literary world. More inspiring bits and pieces than “War and Peace,” West and Sandifer’s Thank You And You’re Welcome is an attempt to impart some of the truths that the MC/producer has used in his own life. In a candid chat with XXLMag.com, Kanye along with Sandifer breaks down why the book is so ill, why Ye refuses to swap verses with artists and how he’s using this format to become a better person.”
XXLMag.com: ‘Ye, you’re very particular with the people you work with. What was it about
Sakiya that made you wanna get down with him for this book?
Kanye West: It was just his style of book writing. When he wrote Think,Think,Think and Think Again, I thought he created a genius format of these major bullet points with graphics connected to them and expounding upon the idea and I said, “this would be a perfect way, the perfect medium to get out these quotes that I was trying to express.” I was always trying, in these interviews, to express to the world my theories on life but people would exploit it, chop it up, make me look like a lunatic and everything because my thought was unconventional. And it would always be packaged by people who didn’t have my best interest or the same purpose because I just wanted to put out these ideas for people to vibe with them and maybe apply it to their life, if they chose. Instead, magazines would usually try and take the stuff and sensationalize it and make me look like a monster.
XXL: What was the creative process, taking Kanye’s thoughts and putting them into this format?
Sakiya: What was the process like? It was like dealing with an extension of myself because we have so many similar thoughts. It wasn’t really a big fight on getting the ideas out. Like we both scrutinize sentences the same. We both scrutinize variations of [the color] yellow the same. So, it was like an extension of me, so I was like, lemme just go and do this.
XXL: What’s the science behind the name, Thank You and You’re Welcome, because even that might be, on the surface, mistaken as being sarcastic…
Sakiya: Well, when we decided to put the book out during the Glow In The Dark tour, I just thought the name that was so ingenious, to hand the concert-goer a product that said Thank You and You’re Welcome. Like we’re giving you something as well as getting something.
Kanye: The title is the ultimate win-win. That’s what we were going for. Every moment should be a Thank You and You’re Welcome. You should try to have that and not be over used or misused or abused, but you’re using each other in an equal way. Both parties are needed. That’s what that means.
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