Rapper Kanye West will “definitely” be casting a ballot in the 2020 presidential election and hinted at who will receive his vote.
In a sprawling series of interviews with GQ that captured West at different moments in various cities earlier this year, the musical artist revealed his plans to vote in November after sitting out in 2016. He said his fans and critics can read between the lines to figure out who he’ll be backing.
“I’m definitely voting this time,” West said in the piece published Wednesday. “And we know who I’m voting on. And I’m not going to be told by the people around me and the people that have their agenda that my career is going to be over.”
West, who rose to fame on the back of hit albums The College Dropout, 808s & Heartbreak, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, also said his acquisitions in real estate have improved dramatically since President Trump took office.
“I buy real estate. It’s better now than when Obama was in office,” he said. “They don’t teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody’s property. “
A month after Trump was elected, West made a high-profile appearance at Trump Tower. In October of 2018, he visited the Oval Office while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat to discuss criminal justice reform with Trump. The rapper has repeatedly stated that he does not believe everything that Trump says but respects aspects of his leadership.
West, who said he was instructed by Saturday Night Live cast members not to wear his MAGA hat on stage during a performance on the late-night comedy show in 2018, said he refuses to vote for a Democrat because “white people” tell him he should.
“Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn’t drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn’t eat from,” he said. “They didn’t fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on.”
