Kanye West, once more, is making news with a rant. And no, not the SNL one. The latest, in which he lectured a classroom full of students about the greatness of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was delivered during an unplanned visit to Detroit’s College for Creative Studies (CCS).
In a Twitter video posted by a student identified only as “Josh,” Kanye can be seen standing on a desk, a la Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, gesturing wildly and talking rapidly about “innovation” before he suddenly declares, “Elon Musk! I don’t care who’s over his house. Leave that man the f*ck alone! Leave that man the f*ck alone!”
“Josh” posted the clip with a comment, saying “kanye really came to our little art school and told us to leave elon musk alone.”
The students in the video show little to no reaction to Kanye’s comments and appear to be bemused.
Page Six speculated that the hip hop star may have been referring to remarks made by Azealia Banks about Musk this past summer. Banks had recounted being at the Tesla CEO’s home to work on music with Musk’s former girlfriend, singer Grimes, but being forced to wait around while Grimes “coddled her boyfriend for being too stupid to know not to go on Twitter while on acid.”
Just a few days ago, following an appearance on Saturday Night Live, West defended president Donald Trump and said he had been “bullied” backstage by SNL cast and crew for wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat. (Cast-member Kenan Thompson, for his part, described the set as being held “hostage” by Kanye.) This recent history might explain some of the CCS class’s nonplussed reaction: the Twitter profile of “Josh” bears the hashtag “#ImpeachTrump.”
The College for Creative Studies is known for its transportation design program. Image courtesy of College for Creative Studies.
A spokesperson for the school, Kate Lees, confirmed to artnet News that Kanye made the comments during an impromptu visit to the school and that the remarks were not anything that were planned ahead of time. The rapper was a reportedly a guest of Quicken Loans CEO Dan Gilbert, a prominent Trump supporter.
The rapper himself also posted video to Twitter during the visit. He can be heard asking Gilbert where they are, to which he responds “the Center for Creative Studies” before he’s quickly corrected by a faculty member.
Kanye’s lecture took place in a “transportation design” classroom, Lees explained, with students who design concept cars for the future. The school is known worldwide for its transportation design program.
“The students were really excited. The school had no reaction,” she says. “We didn’t even know he was coming to campus.”
Lees says she was told Gilbert was just showing Kanye around and that they also visited Shinola, a high-end manufacturing company that is a tenant in the school’s building, as well as the school itself. “As Kanye said, we are ‘the best art design school in the world’,” Lees told artnet News.
Students in a glassblowing class at College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
Image courtesy of College for Creative Studies.
Located in the heart of Detroit, the college educates artists and designers to be leaders in the creative professions. CCS is a private, fully accredited college, that has 1,400 students enrolled, who are pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees.