Kanye West on Controversial Taylor Swift Lyric: ‘I Just Said What Everybody Else Was Thinking’

In his first concert since the February release of The Life of Pablo, 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 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” and that he wanted “the best for that person.” For her part, Swift addressed 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 of Pabloon major streaming services — a move that helped the album claim the top spot on the Billboard albums chart.

Check out fan footage of West’s latest comments about “Famous” and Swift above.

This article originally appeared on EW.com