Kanye West Honors His “Style Idol” Pharrell—& Rants A Bit—at CFDA Awards

“You know how Obama brought out the angry version of himself? I’m sort of like the angrier version of Pharrell,” Kanye West greeted the audience at the CFDA Awards in New York on Monday night. The rapper was there to present his friend and personal “style idol” Pharrell Wiliams with the Fashion Icon of the Year Award. But Kanye being Kanye, he got some of his own thoughts in first.

The rapper loves to talk about just how big an obstacle fashion has been in his life. “Fashion has to be the hardest high school that I ever entered,” Kanye said, thanking Pharrell for being like a “junior or senior to my freshman.” Then he brought up that women’s collection—“My first collection, which sold out $6,000 Zanotti shoes, was completely destroyed by the fashion world.”—and the seemingly ongoing feud with Fern Mallis, “I totally respect Fern’s voice. Have a voice, express yourself!”

Eventually, he handed the mic over to Pharrell, who traced his creative evolution from pre-adolescence to now. In summation, he said that being different is awesome. “Since I was a little boy I lived in my head, there were no rules,” he said. “It’s the first step when you don’t have the means…I didn’t fit in because my lovely parents couldn’t afford for me to. I had to stick out”

Pharrell credited Kelis with introducing him to the designers he now loves—Tom Ford, Karl Lagerfeld, Alber Elbaz—thanking them along with a host of artists, musicians and even architects who’ve shaped his style evolution. (Though it was the Notorious B.I.G. who introd him to Chanel: “You ringing bells with bags from Chanel/Baby Benz, traded in your Hyundai Excel.”)

But before he met Jacob the Jeweler and learned about Comme des Garcons, Pharrell was super into DIY. At the start of his nearly 15-minute long acceptance speech, the rapper provided some insight into how he came to be, style and all, and why he chooses to collaborate on just about everything: “I realized I didn’t want to be a part of the camouflage,” he said of a turning point as a teenager. “Jordans are incredible, but they were out of my price range. Vans and Chuck Taylors were affordable, and most importantly they were the perfect canvas for do it yourself. DIY got me through high school.”

He wrapped up his speech with a surprising declaration: “No one has better style than the everyday American people.”

Related: Kim Kardashian & Kanye West Are Suing YouTube’s Co-Founder

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