Russell Simmons Calls Kanye West "Genius"

Russell Simmons praises Kanye West's creativity.

Kanye West has made headlines recently, airing out frustrations about breaking into the fashion industry.

The co-founder of Def Jam took to Global Grind to write about Ye's geniousity, and explains what Kanye does not seem to be able to explain so eloquently in words himself when he does his interviews.

The music industry mogul wrote, "I recently sat down with Ye in New York and got the chance to hear about his hopes and ambitions, his frustrations and contradictions, his happiness and his anger. But through it all, what I felt from Kanye was an artist who desperately wants to leave his imprint in the history books. What’s often times misunderstood about Kanye is that people believe he wants all of this for himself, in fact, quite the opposite, he wants all of this for the rest of us. He wants to destroy the glass ceiling with 808′s and crack music…so one day WE have the power to see all of the lights. Certainly he wants a piece for himself…everybody would, but at his core, at the bottom of his heart, lies an inner-truth that has led to an external battle to make this world a bit easier for those who have been dealt a hand of struggle, by showing them a glimmer of hope through his art."

He concluded in his op-ed that he believes in what Mr. West is doing. "We will no longer be lost in the world and we will survive in this America. I believe these truths to be self-evident. That is what Kanye West told me on a cold morning in New York City just seven days ago. It is his genius, his tenacity, his creativity, his relentlessness and his madness, that will allow us all to one day have the ability to touch the sky," Simmons wrote.