Kanye West allowed Complex editor-in-chief Noah Callahan-Bever to spend some time with him in Hawaii, living with Kanye, hanging out in his Honolulu studio and penning the cover story “Project Runaway”. The profile offers a glimpse at Kanye’s creative process and gives insight on the man based on those who helped create My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
“Kanye’s process is communal—he literally goes around the room asking everyone there what ‘power’ means to them, throws out lines to see how they’re received, and works out his exact wording with whomever is around to help. But his output is most definitely entirely his own—one listen to that consistently unique cadence, word choice, and sense of humor reveals that. Rappers, producers, and entourage are all welcome to offer ideas or phrases, but the funny thing is, nearly every suggestion is met with, ‘That’s really not at all a word I would ever say, but don’t stop offering ideas, thanks!’”
On Kanye’s sense of humor in the studio:
“What does elicit a visceral reaction—hard, heavy laughter—is the wall of Kanye Commandments posted on 8.5″x 11″ sheets of paper on one side of the studio. They include the obvious—’No Tweeting’ and ‘No Pictures’—and some…well, some less obvious ones, too. Not that ‘No Hipster Hats’ and ‘Just Shut the Fuck Up Sometimes’ aren’t rules to live by.”
On Kanye’s sleeping habits:
“During my five days in Hawaii, Kanye never slept at his house, or even in a bed. He would, er, power-nap in a studio chair or couch here and there in 90-minute intervals, working through the night. Engineers remained behind the boards 24 hours a day.”
