Three days later, he’s appeared on Saturday Night Live and called for the abolition of the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, which ended slavery – but the album has yet to materialise.
Speaking to TMZ, the star explained he “didn’t finish” the album in time; and would to go to Africa to complete it.
“I just need to go and grab the soil… and have the mic in the open, so you can hear nature while we’re recording.
“I felt this energy when I was in Chicago. I felt the roots. We have to go to what is known as Africa.”
West added that the album had been pushed back to Black Friday, 23 November, after a member of his management team suggested he needed more time.
“I started incorporating sounds that you never heard before and pushing and having concepts that people don’t talk about,” West said of the work-in-progress.
“We have concepts talking about body-shaming and women being looked down upon for how many people that they slept with. It’s just a full Ye album.”
West also clarified his comments about the 13th Amendment, which prompted outcry from fellow musicians including Lana Del Rey and Questlove.
“Abolish was the wrong language,” he said. “I mis-spoke by saying abolish. Amend is the right language… What’s beautiful about our Constitution is we can amend it.”
He went on to explain that he was referring to what’s called the 13th Amendment’s “exception clause” – which allows forced labour to continue inside America’s prisons.
“There’s people getting paid eight cent a week working for companies that are privately owned,” said West. “A lot of them are first time offenders. A lot of them are non-violent crimes.
“And then also, we’re not dealing with the mental health and the therapy. The majority of people that are in prison are there due to a reaction to a situation that they are in.”
‘I support our president’
The wide-ranging interview with TMZ’s Harvey Levin also saw West discuss his endorsement of President Trump.
“As an American, I support our president,” he said, adding he would offer “my support and brilliance to whoever is up in office” – despite his notorious statement that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
West also said he hoped to set up a meeting between President Trump and Colin Kapernick, who was the first NFL player to protest against racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the US national anthem.
“I’ve been calling Colin this morning, reaching him, so I can bring Colin to the White House and we can remove that ‘sons of bitches’ statement,” said West – referring to a term Trump used to refer to kneeling players last year.
West said he believed dialogue could prove productive.
“We keep having the conversation until the conversation turns to love,” he said. “We can be on the same page.”
