Kanye West Gives Speech at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Discusses Creativity, Fashion, Haters

Yesterday, Kanye West stopped by the Gold Thimble Fashion Show at Los Angeles Trade Technical College – where he once taught a course, as Complex points out – to address the fashion students. While the eight-minute speech was neither as formal nor as long as his lecture at Oxford earlier this year, ‘Ye still found time to fit in plenty of wisdom regarding ambition, creativity, striving for excellence and fending off the haters. Check out the entire speech below via Hot New Hip Hop.

West’s speech addressed the problems practically every artist faces in the workplace, no matter how talented:

It’s a tough world out there. You’ve got to prepare yourself for politics, bad bosses, hating employees and usually when you’re the absolute best, you get hated on the most. But never stop fighting, no matter what anyone says, no matter how they try to compromise your vision.

The artist also brought in his own experiences as a way to commiserate, as well as inspire:

I empathize with anyone in this era who’s ever loved fashion. Usually, it’s not like loving the idea of being a lawyer or becoming a doctor. When kids tell their parents that they want to be a fashion designer, it’s usually not met with the same response as the traditional career choices. Even for me as a successful musician, in order to make the transition, it was really all but impossible. People always try to box you in for what they know you best for. The most successful artists are as close to as they were when they five years old, or four years old, or three years old, or when my daughter wakes up and decides to change her career seven times a day.

“Only One”:

Comments are closed.