Kanye West likes to compare himself to a lot of people. Last year he said that Steve Jobs had to die so that he himself could live, while adding that he wants to be known as the Steve Jobs of everything. This year at the Cannes Lions media and advertising festival, the infamous rapper and self-proclaimed deity said that he knows why Apple bought Beats: it was a response to Samsung’s work with Jay Z. At least, that’s a succinct summation. The real quotes are much better.
Image: 13thWitness / Getty
Speaking as a last-minute guest at a Cannes Lions roundtable overnight, Yeezus said that Apple buying Beats represents a move towards connecting with culture in the same way as Samsung worked with Jay Z:
There would have been no Beats deal without the Samsung deal. It showed the No. 1 company [Apple] the importance of connecting with culture. The reason I said I didn’t like Samsung particularly is because throughout my entire life, because of how my parents raised me, I have to work with the No. 1. I can’t work with anyone but Jay Z, because he’s No. 1. I can’t be with any girl but Kim, because that’s the girl whose pictures I look at the most and get turned on by. I’m not going to represent any company but Louis Vuitton, because that’s No. 1. … Samsung is not quite Apple, but it showed that Jimmy [Iovine] and Dre would be able to connect with the No. 1 influencers.
Apple was so profound at making great products in great design language. And yet they found themselves culturally susceptible to another brand whose products weren’t necessarily as great at that time. Samsung used culture as a way to get into the conversation. And that’s why the Apple/Beats deal makes sense. Whatever Samsung is doing culturally, Apple has the 800-pound gorilla in Beats and Jimmy and Dre.
The first part of the quote is pretty interesting considering that the photo above from Getty was taken at the New York launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Anything for a paycheck, right?
So what’s Kanye working on now? Well, he’s been in touch with Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, and has offered to rework the whole platform because it’s “fucking ugly”. Please don’t let Kanye near it, Zuzk. [AdWeek]