Leave it to Kanye West to make a variety of headlines off a single interview, though many of which tend to derive from the outlandish nature of his comments. On one hand, he’ll entice longtime fans with promising tidbits about his actual music, including the revelation that he’s getting back to rapping on his upcoming Dr. Dre-produced Jesus Is King II. On the other hand, his loftier declarations tend to have the opposite effect and only serve to rub people the wrong way — even if they are delivered in a sincere fashion.

Kobe Bryant Kanye West

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Take, for instance, his insistence that he and Kobe Bryant are reflections of one another, albeit in different fields. Made in a recent interview with GQ, Yeezy opened up about his connection to Bryant, one that stems from a place of genuine admiration, respect, and longtime friendship. “He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts!” says Kanye. “We got the commercials that prove it. No one else can say this. We came up at the same time, together.”

“And now it’s like, yeah, I might have had a reputation for screaming about things—but I’m not taking any mess for an answer now,” he continues, elaborating on how Kobe’s death has left him feeling a renewed sense of purpose. “We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ’em. We bringing home the trophies.” In that sense, Kanye continues to seek inspiration from his late friend, with whom he collaborated on a hilarious Nikecommercial back in 2015. What do you make of Yeezy’s comparison — do you feel it’s an appropriate one to make?

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