Kanye West definitely stands by his word and a man of conviction. So it’s not surprising that he is making plans to give back. In an interview with Essence Magazine, Kanye talks candidly about his mother and how he feels about kids staying in school.

Teenagers succumb to peer pressure and with hip hop music at times glorifying drugs, women and the “easy way out,” it’s nice one of the men in the hip-hop game with the biggest mouth, speak on something positive! For this Kanye,we commend you!

Here is an excerpt of the interview:

ESSENCE.COM: We love that, despite your decision to leave college, you continue to encourage young folk to stay the course and get their education. How do you scare them straight?
KANYE WEST: I’m not about fear. America instills enough of that with the cause of the war, the threat of the recession and everything else. I’m about making your own choices but giving inspiration. I went to college for a year and half and I didn’t graduate. If I got a bachelor’s degree or went to school for another eight years, would that mean I finished? At what point are you really done finishing your education? I believe that anything that you have to pay for is a choice, and high school is mandatory to gain some basic skills. Therefore, it’s easy for me to build a foundation that encourages young people to stay in high school.

ESSENCE.COM: Makes sense. Loop Dreams encourages education through music and varying assets of the hip-hop culture, which often gets a bad rap (no pun intended). How does hip-hop influence the youth negatively and positively?
WEST: Hip-hop is a reflection of what’s going on. It’s a form of entertainment and it’s not steering people any differently than a [violent] movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a brand, I’m not defined by hip-hop. It’s just a tool that I choose to use. I could have been a poet but I chose the tool of hip-hop to get my message across because it was the loudest. For more of the interview, head over to Essence.com by clicking here.

Forwomenonline.com