Last Friday, Kanye West stopped by a class at L.A. Trade Technical College. He was there to serve out a court-mandated 250 hours of community service, but by the looks of things, Yeezy relished the opportunity to chop it up with young men and women about fashion, art, and music. For several hours, Kanye spoke with a mix of students from the school's digital communications department and youths who were part of a summer bridge program for students who had dropped out of high school.
Andre Pitts, a 19-year-old L.A. native who's majoring in Visual Communications (which is just like graphic design, he says), spoke with us about the surreal afternoon, and what, according to him, went down in the near-two hours that Kanye led the class.
Did you know this was going to happen? Or was it a surprise?
No, none of the students knew that he was going to show up. We were asked if some students wanted to help other students with their work after class, so I agreed to try to help other students with their work.
What was that like when he walked through the door?
Well my heart dropped, I didn’t believe what I was seeing. For four seconds I was like, paused. I was like, “Is that who I think it is?” After that I just started to try to pull out my phone and get a photo of him.
That’s crazy. What do you remember him speaking about?
A lot of stuff. He was all over the place, but I mean, one of the main things he was talking about was...
he was giving examples of different things and saying that having a Rolex or a Benz is not something that actually represents your success because there’s always something more expensive to buy. So, he was saying that success was really being able to do things for others as well as the people around you and yourself.
What were some questions that you guys asked?
Different people asked about what is his favorite this and that, or stuff he likes, the people he likes and the different artists he likes, and he just briefly answered like, “Yeah I like them.” People asked him about different artists, really.
And then someone finally did actually ask about the Illuminati, and I don’t want to say too much because he did tell the truth this time but I don’t have it on film so I cant really back that stuff up, but he did talk about that topic. Someone asked if he listens to his own music, or if he listens to other people’s music. He said he likes to listen to his own music since he thinks he’s the best artist, still.
What was your reaction like after he left?
I was still shocked about what happened when he left. I felt a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t prepared. I felt that if I would’ve been told a day before I would’ve brought my actual camera. But you know, I feel like I’m gonna see him again so I wasn’t that upset. I was still kinda happy on the inside that I got to meet him.
I’m only 19 but I’ve been listening to him since I was younger, so it was a surreal feeling.
Well now you can say, “Yeezy taught me.”
“Yeezy taught me?” What do you mean?
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If my fav came to my school, my first reaction wouldn't be "I wish I brought my good camera". I wouldn't even tell the press what we talked about. Lame.
