Kanye On Kobe Bryant: ‘He Was The Basketball Version Of Me’

In an interview with GQ, Kanye West opened up about the death of NBA icon Kobe Bryant. The rap icon said, “Kobe was one of my best friends. He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts!”

He continued, “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. We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ’em. We bringing home the trophies.”

He also discussed his past issues with alcohol, saying, “One day I was in my office working on the couture collection, and there was some Grey Goose in the fridge and I was just going to get a daytime drink, and I looked and thought, ‘Devil, you’re not going to beat me today.'”

He continued, “That one statement is like a tattoo. I haven’t had a drink since I realized I needed to take it day by day, but I never owned up, or was even told, ‘Hey, you’re a functioning alcoholic.'”

He added, “People have called me a crazy person, people have called me everything—but not a functioning alcoholic. And I would be drinking orange juice and Grey Goose in the morning.”

He also talked about who he plans to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. He said, “I am the founder of a $4 billion organization, one of the most Google-searched brands on the planet, and I will not be told who I’m gonna vote on because of my color. I’m definitely voting this time. And we know who I’m voting on.”