Eight Memorable Quotes From Kanye's Storytellers Appearance

We recently learned that Kanye West will release his VH1 Storytellers appearance as a CD/DVD set. As regular Paste readers know, we are big believers in this man’s music. And, indeed, we are already familiar with this Storytellers appearance, and can thus whet your appetite by revealing eight choice bits of Mr. West’s dialogue.

1. “I suffered the worst pains to help me to grow. So those experiences, I’d never ask to take them away because they’re all in God’s plan and help make me the man I am today, and help make me more of a soldier and a vessel. Because if I hadn’t suffered those losses, I might be too scared to fight the war on traditional thinking.”

2. “It’s a beautiful thing that, in a country that was so divided by the concept of black and white, we now have a black and white president. And this is what the future is to me: The juxtaposition, two things that you think don’t go together.”

3. “It feels like you’re on trial sometimes. And in a relationship sometimes you can also be on trial, and convicted with no jury.”

4. “I ask myself as I date, what am I looking for? The requirement of this position is inspirement.”

5. "When I made “Good Life,” I was very rich already."

6. “I know I do not always state popular opinion. Amazing—Michael Jackson—amazing. Michael Phelps—amazing. O.J. Simpson—amazing. Is he not? What he did when he did what he did, was he not amazing though?”

7. “I apologize for acting like a bitch at awards shows. It’s an awards show! Didn’t kill anyone. But yet and still, I apologize for my ungraciousness.”

8. “So few hip-hop artists have ever advanced. Their songs on their seventh, eighth albums sound exactly like the songs on their first album. More than a artist, I’m a real person—and real people grow. And I wanna just sing my growth.”