Kanye West made a surprise appearance at Sunday night’s BET Awards in Los Angeles
Covered head to toe in black clothing, West—who now goes by “Ye”—showed up at the event to honor longtime friend and fellow rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs as he received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Introducing Combs to the stage, Ye said: “How do we crown our kings?” “How do we appreciate our kings?”
Ye went on to explain how Combs had influenced him in every aspect of his life —including marriage.
“I took a little hiatus. I said, ‘I just want to declare myself legally dead for a year. Nobody missing me. I just want to be off the grid,’” he confessed. “If Puff ever needs us, we need to jump and be there. This man has been through and survived a lot of stuff, broke down a lot of doors so we could be standing — I know for me that I could be here today.”
“This is my favorite artist. You see what I’m saying? Favorite artist,” West assured. “Everything. Not specifically production. The drip. You know, back then, it was so many rules to hip hop. He broke all of them. Broke down all the doors.”
According to West, after breaking into the music industry, he was honored to be called the Chicago version of Combs. The “Donda” rapper even said that he married his now ex-wife Kim Kardashian because of Combs’s influence.
“I go to [Combs] for advice to this day. He inspires so many of my choices, so many of my life choices. My wife choices,” West quipped. “And, here we are. Thanks for that, Puff.”
Listen to the entire speech below
