--- title: Kanye West: Taylor Swift 'Famous' Lyric Truth description: Kanye West clarified the controversial lyrics on his song "Famous" about Taylor Swift at a concert in the Philippines. canonical: https://time.com/4288652/kanye-taylor-famous-lyrics/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T15:13:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:37:45.836Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kanye West Discusses That Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric og:description: "I just said what everybody else was thinking" og:url: https://time.com/4288652/kanye-taylor-famous-lyrics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kanye West Discusses That Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric twitter:description: "I just said what everybody else was thinking" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Kanye West on Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric: 'I Just Said What Everybody Else Was Thinking' ## Video: Kanye West on Why He Doesn't Care About His Legacy [Watch (HLS stream): Kanye West on Why He Doesn't Care About His Legacy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hQZVDnKU.m3u8) (3:58)  _Published 2015-04-16. “Every time I say something that’s extremely truthful out loud, it literally breaks the internet. So what are we getting all of the rest of the time?” asks West, the rapper and designer._ by [Eric Renner Brown / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Eric Renner Brown / Entertainment Weekly Apr 11, 2016 3:13 PM CUT by [Eric Renner Brown / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Eric Renner Brown / Entertainment Weekly Apr 11, 2016 3:13 PM CUT In his first concert since the February release of [_The Life of Pablo_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/15/kanye-west-life-pablo-ew-review "undefined"), Kanye West commented about his controversial “Famous” lyric about Taylor Swift. After performing the track at a show in Manila, Philippines, Saturday evening, West called the night he interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards “the beginning of the end of my life,” but also stated that he “just said what everybody else was thinking.” (On “Famous,” West sings “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”) “This is the song that broke the writer’s block for me, because it’s something I wanted to say so bad,” West said. “So if I get in trouble for saying the truth, what’s being said the rest of the time? And I had to fight every day of my life, with the whole world turned against me, for saying out loud what everyone else felt. But that’s the job of an artist, of a true artist: not to be controlled by their finances, not to be controlled by perceptions, but only to be controlled by their truth.” West added that he “fought” to make “Famous” _Pablo_’s [first single](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/13/kanye-west-famous-life-pablo-tidal "undefined") and that it was “really overwhelming” to play the song live for the first time. He then performed the song a second time. In the days following _Pablo_’s release, West claimed that he “[did not diss Taylor Swift](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/12/kanye-west-taylor-swift-twitter "undefined")” and that he wanted “[the best for that person](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/19/kanye-west-taylor-swift-best-for-person "undefined").” For her part, Swift [addressed](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/15/grammys-2016-taylor-swift-album-of-year "undefined") Kanye and the song during her Album of the Year acceptance speech at the Grammys, saying, “There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.” The 38-year-old rapper recently released an [updated version](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/01/kanye-west-life-pablo-changes "undefined") of _Pablo_on [major streaming services](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/31/kanye-west-life-pablo-streaming-spotify-apple-music "undefined") — a move that helped the album claim the [top spot](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/10/life-pablo-kanye-west-billboard-200-chart "undefined") on the _Billboard_ albums chart. Check out fan footage of West’s latest comments about “Famous” and Swift above. _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/11/kanye-west-taylor-swift-controversy "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288652/kanye-taylor-famous-lyrics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288652/kanye-taylor-famous-lyrics/"},"headline":"Kanye West on Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric: 'I Just Said What Everybody Else Was Thinking'","datePublished":"2016-04-11T15:13:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:37:45.836Z","description":"\"This is the song that broke the writer’s block for me, because it’s something I wanted to say so bad\"","url":"https://time.com/4288652/kanye-taylor-famous-lyrics/","keywords":["Music","Kanye West","Taylor Swift"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Renner Brown / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4288652/kanye-taylor-famous-lyrics/","name":"Kanye West on Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric: 'I Just Said What Everybody Else Was Thinking'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Kanye West on Why He Doesn't Care About His Legacy","description":"“Every time I say something that’s extremely truthful out loud, it literally breaks the internet. 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