Kanye West Confirms He's 'Off Medication,' Delays Album Until Black Friday to Record in Africa

"Those five albums that I dropped earlier were like superhero rehabilitation," the rapper said Monday on TMZ Live

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Published on October 1, 2018 06:15 PM

There’s a good reason why Kanye West never released new album Yandhi this weekend — it’s not done!

“I didn’t finish it,” the rapper, 41, said during a TMZ Live interview on Monday, adding that he’s planning on going to Africa in two weeks to continue recording.

Explaining the rationale behind the trip, West explained that while he was in Chicago recently, “I felt this energy.”

“I felt the roots. I need to go to what is known as Africa — I need to find out what it’s really called… and just grab the soil and be and cook food,” he remarked, adding that he’d also like to “have my kids in the studio and have my mic in the open so we can hear nature while we’re recording.”

West went on to give his impatient fans a little insight into what they can expect from the upcoming album, which will now be released on Nov. 23.

“I started incorporating sounds you’ve never heard before, concepts that people don’t talk about. Concepts talking about body shaming, women being looked down upon for how many people they’ve slept with,” the rapper shared to TMZ.

“It’s just a full Ye album,” he explained, adding that all of the albums he’d previously released weren’t on the same level as the music he’s currently working on. “Those five albums that I dropped earlier were like superhero rehabilitation. Now the alien Ye is fully back in mode, off of medication, working out, breaking as much fresh air as possible, thinking, doing, being himself.”

Clarifying his statements, West — who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder — remarked, “When I say I’m being myself, that doesn’t mean I’m being Donald Trump, it means I’m being me and I’m punk and I can wear whatever I want ‘cause I’m a god.”

“This is the way I look like at this time in this planet,” he continued. “Other times, maybe have a robe on. Next time, maybe I’ll have a full electrical suit and we just have our chakras here and everything else is mechanical. This is the type of energy we’re putting into the album.”

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West previously announced last week that he would release Yandhi on Saturday — timed around his performance at the premiere of SNL‘s 44th season. However, as the release date came and went, the rapper failed to provide his fans with any information as to why the album had been delayed.

Coming to his fans’ rescue, on Monday afternoon, Kim Kardashian West announced via Twitter that Yandhi would be released on Nov. 23 — a.k.a. Black Friday — instead. “TRUST ME it is worth the wait,” the mom of three tweeted, hyping up the album.

However, many Yeezy fans still felt disappointed by the sudden turn of events, using plenty of GIFs and memes to express their sadness.

As promised, though, on Saturday the Yeezy designer did take on the SNL stage once again. He wore a Make America Great Again hat for the occasion, dressed up like a bottle of Perrier fizzy water, and dropped a post-show Trump rant that drew boos from the uncomfortable crowd.

West ended his speech with an expression of gratitude. “Thank y’all for giving me this platform,” he concluded. “I know some of y’all don’t agree. But y’all be goin’ at that man neck a lot, and I don’t think it’s actually that helpful. I think the universe has balance. 90 percent of news are liberal. 90 percent of TV, L.A., New York, writers, actors, rappers, musicians. So it’s easy to make it seem like it’s so, so, so one-sided. And I feel kind of free. I thought this country said I couldn’t be me.”

The “Gold Digger” artist first hinted at the new release shortly after his SNL performance was announced via a tweet featuring the album name written on a Post-it note alongside separate cards with host Adam Driver’s name and the premiere date.

West’s last album, Ye, dropped in June, and addressed everything from his bipolar disorder and ongoing mental health struggles to Tristan Thompson‘s cheating scandal and wife Kim Kardashian West‘s reaction to his infamous declaration that slavery was a choice.

Weeks later he went on to release collaborative album Kids See Ghosts with friend Kid Cudi.

West also dropped a profanity-laden new song, “I Love It” featuring Lil Pump in September along with an absurd Spike Jonze-produced music video starring comedian Adele Givens.