I cant stand short speeches, West said in accepting the award and following the five-word rule.
(It was during that speech when he announced a possibly presidential run in 2020.)
Watch the Artist of the Year presentation above.
Credit: YouTube
Listen to the kids.
Jeremy, I gotta put it down for a second, Jeremy Scott designed it.
First of all, thank you Taylor for being so gracious and giving me this award this evening.
And I often think back to the first day I met you, also.
Crosses my mind a little bit.
And I think if I had to do it all again what would I have done?
Would I have worn a leather shirt?
Would I have drank a half a bottle of Hennessy and gave the rest of it to the audience?
Yall know you drank that bottle too.
The stage will be gone.
After that night, the stage is gone but the effect it had on people remain.
I didnt know how to say the right thing, the perfect thing…
I just sat at the Grammys and saw Justin Timberlake and Cee-Lo lose.
And I was thinking like he deserved to win Album of the Year!
And this small box that we are as the entertainers of the evening, how could you explain that?
Im not no politician bro!
And look at that.
You know how many times MTV ran that footage again because it got more ratings?
You know how many times they announced Taylor was giving me the award because it gave them more ratings?
Listen to the kids, bro!
I still dont understand awards shows!
I dont understand it bro!
But f it bro!
I will die for the art.
For what I believe in.
And the art aint always going to be polite.
Yall might be thinking right now, I wonder, did he smoke something before he came out here?
The answer is yes, I rolled up a little something.
I knocked the edge off.
I dont know whats going to happen tonight, I dont know whats going to happen tomorrow, bro.
Just worry about how you feel and dont never, you know what Im saying.
I believe in myself, we the Millennials bro.
This is a new mentality.
We not gonna control our kids with brands.
Were not going to teach low self esteem and hate to our kids.
Were going to teach our kids that they can be someone.
Were going to teach our kids that they can stand up for themselves.
Were going to teach our kids to believe in themselves.
If my grandfather were here right now he would not let me back down.
Its about ideas, new ideas, people with ideas, people who believe in truth.
