Kanye West talks presidential bid: 'I've got to grow up'

Rap star Kanye West. Photo / AP

Kanye West thinks he'd be an "extremely thoughtful" president.

The 38-year-old rapper - who announced last month he plans to run for office in 2020 - thinks people welcome his plans because he is "honest" and always tries to defend others.

He said: "As soon as I said that, it was like, 'Wait a second, we would be really into that, because actually if you think about it, he's extremely thoughtful. Every time he's gotten in trouble, he was really jumping in front of a bullet for someone else. He's probably the most honest celebrity that we have.' "

But the Gold Digger hitmaker - who has daughter North, two, with pregnant wife Kim Kardashian West - admits he has a lot of "research and growing up" to do before he makes his bid for the White House.

He added in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine: "I sit in clubs and I'm like, 'Wow, I've got five years before I go and run for office and I've got a lot of research to do, I've got a lot of growing up to do.

"My dad has two master's degrees. My mom has a Ph.D. Rap is great. It's fun. It's fun to be a rock star, and I'll never not be one I guess, but there'll be a point where I become my mother's child."

And West doesn't believe running for president means he would have to give up his music or design careers.

He admitted: "I think about that. Because it's so therapeutic for me to sit and work for seven days.

"We work on the collection year-round, every day to the office, we have an amazing team, but then you have that seven days before the show where you just really, really don't sleep ... I have to stay creative.

"The whole point is to have someone [in office] that's creative, that's around amazing creatives.

"This is my theory: I think the world can be helped through design, so it's very important that I stay around creative, forward thinkers.

"It's very important that I continue to design, to be in practice of trying to make the best decisions possible.

"I hate politics. I'm not a politician at all. I care about the truth and I just care about human beings."

- Bang! Showbiz