Kanye West on his rapping ability

"I rap really good now. I can look at it from every perspective - from the backpack perspective, from the street perspective. I'm more of a poet or a reporter of what's going on. If I say somebody got shot, nobody's looking at me like, "Kanye don't have no gun". I feel like i'm considered a writer now. Like Maya Angelou might've written something in first person from somebody totally different than her. When I rap, I just let the lyrics say it, but I'm going for it. I be in the studio, thinking about my favourite rappers, thinking what Jay meant to me, what Eminem meant to me, what Biggie meant to me. I feel like Damn, if Big was still alive, could I still compete or would I have to stick to the beats? I'm going for it"