--- title: Watch Kanye West’s Full American Idol Audition description: “My name is Kanye. I’m from south side of Chicago” canonical: https://time.com/4167244/kanye-wests-american-idol-audition/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-05T03:53:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:38.144Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch Kanye West's Full 'American Idol' Audition og:description: “My name is Kanye. I’m from south side of Chicago” og:url: https://time.com/4167244/kanye-wests-american-idol-audition/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt036ac8fb02a49760/69887780cd1bba6df66fec23/gettyimages-492295188.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: GettyImages-492295188 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Kanye West's Full 'American Idol' Audition twitter:description: “My name is Kanye. I’m from south side of Chicago” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt036ac8fb02a49760/69887780cd1bba6df66fec23/gettyimages-492295188.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Kanye West's Full _American Idol_ Audition > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## 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 [Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly Jan 5, 2016 3:53 AM UTC  Kanye West surprises the Judges and Ryan Seacrest on American Idol by auditioning in San Francisco on Oct. 10, 2015 Kanye West surprises the Judges and Ryan Seacrest on American Idol by auditioning in San Francisco on Oct. 10, 2015 FOX/Getty Images by [Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Will Robinson / Entertainment Weekly Jan 5, 2016 3:53 AM UTC After [tease](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/23/kanye-west-american-idol-audition-sneak-peek) upon [tease](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/11/kanye-west-american-idol-audition), Kanye West has truly stepped up on to the _American Idol_ stage. Footage of the hip-hop star’s full audition for the reality show has made appeared online, and in it he performs for the judges. “My name is Kanye. I’m from south side of Chicago,” he begins, before revealing his first career was a producer before fighting to become a rapper. Outside, a calm Kim Kardashian hangs with Ryan Seacrest. “I’m not nervous, because I do really believe in him,” she tells him. “I didn’t give him any advice on singing, rapping. I hope they really believe in him.” The supreme moment comes when West reveals he’s doing an original song, as it features a heavy name drop. “Better f—ing be me,” Lopez whispers. Sure enough, Yeezy goes full a cappella on “Gold Digger,” which shouts out Lopez. See the audition below. _American Idol_ begins its final season Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. [This article originally appeared on ew.com](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/04/kanye-west-american-idol-audition-video) ## Transcript Every time I crash the internet it's like, this little drop of truth. 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? [ MUSIC ] I don't care about having a legacy. I don't care about. Being remembered. Cuz the most important thing to me is like, while I'm here, while we're having fun, while we're going to sleep and breathing oxygen and living life, and falling in love, and having pain, and having joy, is like what can I do? What can I do with my voice? What can we do for each other to make life easier? To make life doper for our kids, you know, as they grow? You know, we were. Born into a broken world and we're like the clean- up crew, you know? [ MUSIC ] My mother made me believe in me. When I was growing up, I wanted to make video games. My mom got this Amiga computer when I was in seventh grade and had. 4, 096 colors. I found myself running home to use this sound program that allowed me to play a note. It would stay. Plays another note, it would stay. It plays another note, it would stay. And that's how I learned how to produce in seventh grade. And I was just really making the music to make video. Dreams. They just let me dream. They supported me. They pushed me. They didn't set me up to be inside of a, a box. What's the main thing that makes magic magic. The fact that no one believes it's possible. [ MUSIC ] When I entered the fashion world and I encountered a lot of elitism and all that, it just made me happy. It was something fun, we had the entire world against us. It was like absolutely no allies whatsoever, you know what I mean? It was like the world was against us. The pressure of that was like crazy. It was like a Superbowl. I remember sitting there with my fashion publicist Deborah, and we were supposed to do the Reese's. This is the thing with the editors after the show. They come back to see it and see if they like the collection. And we had, like, two or three people that came to see it and take a picture with Kanye and blah blah, all this type of stuff. I said, do we have any more editors coming? And Debra just looked and says, no. No one else is coming. And I looked at her and said. This is great! Remember this moment cuz it won't always be like this. Embrace this moment where no one came to see the collection. I take, you know, things that people look at as a negative as an inspiration to do. Something better. [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] I think there's school teachers that are the, the exact same mission as, as me. I think there's police officers with the exact same mission. As me. Just help. Just do everything you got. Give everything you got. And, you know, our focus needs to be less about what our le -. Legacy is gonna be or how we're gonna control each other. But more how can we can give to each other. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4167244/kanye-wests-american-idol-audition/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4167244/kanye-wests-american-idol-audition/"},"headline":"Watch Kanye West's Full American Idol Audition","datePublished":"2016-01-05T03:53:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:38.144Z","description":"“My name is Kanye. 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