Kanye West ‘Doesn’t Have a Malicious Bone in His Body,’ Scooter Braun Says — and Even More Music Is Coming
By Jem Aswad
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Scooter Braun confirmed today that, as noted by Variety last week , he and Kanye West are working together again and he is helping the artist with the rollout of the five albums he’s in the middle of releasing . The pair had announced in April that Braun was no longer in a management relationship with the artist.
“We’re still working together,” Braun said in a Q&A with Variety executive music editor Shirley Halperin at the MIDEM conference Thursday. He acknowledged differences of opinion, and noted that “Even though he tweeted ‘I can’t have a manager, I don’t have a manager, I can’t be managed’, two hours later he tweeted ‘ is a genius!’ He wanted me to work [just] for him and that didn’t work for me,” but confirmed that the two never stopped talking and are again working closely together — they were often side-by-side during West’s album-release party in Wyoming last week.
“I always get nervous about explaining Kanye, because only Kanye can explain Kanye! He’s my friend and I’m his adviser. He’s always hated the word manager, and that’s why we get along, because I hate the word ‘manager.’”
He hastened to add that the relationship does not imply unconditional acceptance of West’s public statements. “I wanna say, just to be clear, I disagree with some things that he says — and I tell him,” Braun said. “And we have very long, intelligent conversations about it. A lot of the things he says that people get so upset over, aren’t really what he meant.” Braun did not specify which statements he was referring to.
“He has a very big heart, he has a big heart for people, and he’s now told the world publicly that he is bipolar. There’s not a malicious bone in his body, it’s not who he is,” he continued. “And I can tell you from working with him, he is truly a genius, he’s always the one who makes me think, damn, why didn’t I think of that.
“This might surprise you, but he’s the best listener I’ve ever worked with,” Braun said. “He’s very thoughtful of others and he listens. I always tell him, ‘I want to help translate you to the world.’
“And who knows how long it’ll last this time?” he laughed. “But we had a very successful release last week and we’ve got another album coming at midnight tonight! [ West’s collaboration with Kid Cudi, “Kids See Ghosts.” ] That’s why I haven’t slept much.”
Halperin asked about the concept behind West’s involvement in five seven-song albums, including two of his own . “We’re in a weird place with ‘what is the point of an album?’ coming out of a lot of people’s mouths,” he said. “With Kanye it was a combination of ‘I have more to say than just one album, I want to put out lots of projects’. And there’s a lot you can convey in seven songs and make [the audience] want more — and he’s already telling me other albums that he wants to do with other artists.”
“Some of the stuff he says is just the greatest,” Braun added. “He told me eight or nine months ago — and please don’t report this — ‘I really wanna tell you something, it’s a big compliment: I think you’re the of managers.’ That’s the biggest compliment a manager can have!”
