Kanye West On Cover Of "Vibe" Magazine (February '09)

Kanye West has become a worldwide music icon by always telling us the naked truth as he sees it. In the February issue of Vibe — the only cover story he's done to promote 808s & Heartbreak — the Grammy winner contemplates baring even more than that.

"I made a decision. I wanna make popular music, but I want less fans," he told writer Sean Fennessey when asked if was comfortable with fame. "I want the freedom of having less fans. It's like the freedom of having less money. If you have less money, you have less responsibility. It's like Björk. If she wanted to pose naked, you'd be like, 'Oh, that's Björk.' But if I wanted to pose naked, people would draw all type of things into it. I definitely feel like, in the next however many years, if I work out for two months, that I'll pose naked. I break every rule and mentality of hip-hop, of black culture, of American culture."

West also gave his take on some of his peers, telling the publication that he refuses to say anything negative about fellow performers, but has no problem giving praise where it is due.

"I believe Beyoncé is the greatest performer of our generation," he offered. "I believe I am the greatest entertainer of this generation. I go neck-and-neck on Jay-Z and [Lil] Wayne as far as who's the best lyricist. Jay-Z has longevity." [x]

Umm...yea.