Kanye West talks about mental health and his bipolar condition in a third clip released today from his forthcoming interview with David Letterman. The host asks, “What is the mechanism that is malfunctioning in your brain — do you know?”
West’s response is similar to many descriptions of a manic state. “I wouldn’t be able to explain that as much, because I’m not a doctor. I can just tell you what I’m feeling at the time. And I feel a heightened connection with the universe when I’m ramping up.
“It is a health issue,” he continues. “This is like a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle. And if someone has a sprained ankle, you’re not going to push on him more. [But] with us, once our brain gets to a point of spraining, people do everything to make it worse!”
The interview, from Letterman’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” begins streaming on Netflix tomorrow (May 31). In it, West addresses music, fashion, his late mother and of course his much-criticized support of President Trump. On the latter subject, West gives his now-familiar obfuscations, even when directly asked by Letterman about subjects like the Republican-led voter suppression efforts during the recent midterm elections. “So if I see a person that I admire talking about Donald Trump can think whatever he does,” Letterman says, “I wonder if those thoughts, indirectly, aren’t hurting people who are already being hurt.”
“This is like my thing with Trump — we don’t have to feel the same way, but we have the right to feel what we feel,” he says, claiming that his donning a “Make America Great Again” hat is “not about politics” but rather an attempt to break the stigma around showing support for Trump.