Kanye West doesn’t do interviews. Or, to quote Kanye himself, “Don’t do no press, but I get the most press, kid.” As far as I know, the last time he sat down with a writer was when he showed up on the cover of Vibe in early 2009. So the fact that Kanye recently gave a long interview to the great New York Times critic and all-around good dude Jon Caramanica feels like more of an event than a lot of album releases.

In Caramanica’s massive new interview, Kanye goes through his whole career and drops gem after gem. On the instinct that led him to interrupt Taylor Swift at the VMAs: “It’s only led me to complete awesomeness at all times. It’s only led me to awesome truth and awesomeness. Beauty, truth, awesomeness. That’s all it is.” On impending fatherhood: “I just don’t want to talk to America about my family. Like, this is my baby. This isn’t America’s baby.” On the sound of his new album Yeezus: “Trap and drill and house. I knew that I wanted to have a deep Chicago influence on this album, and I would listen to like, old Chicago house.”

I could quote more highlights, but honestly, the interview is one long highlight. It’s the best thing you’ll read today, and you can and should read the whole thing here.