Kanye Tells Kimmel: ‘Never Think I'm Not From Chicago'

Rapper Kanye West invokes Chicago during his interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live"

Kanye West didn't waste time getting some things off his chest Wednesday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

The visit, sparked by a Twitter feud between West and Kimmel, spawned several, uninterrupted soliloquies from the rapper, originally from Chicago. He ranted poetic on topics spanning fashion, media, artistic struggle, classism, snobbery, celebrity, getting spoofed, paparazzi, joy, his family ... the list goes on.

Near the end of the 30-minute interview, West really got going and apparently wasn't afraid to show his Chicago roots.

He recalled seeing creative types like himself -- "I'm the one creative," he said at one point -- get beat up when he was younger and said he didn't stand for it in his hometown.

"There were moments when I stood up to drug dealers in Chicago and said, ‘You can’t have my publishing. Come and kill me. Do whatever you’re going to do, but you’re not going to bully me,'" he said, partially addressing Kimmel but mostly talking to the crowd at-large.

"When people hear my music," he continued near the end of the show, "they have a good time. And I should be respected as such when I walk down the street."

West really started getting worked up when he brought up the paparazzi following his family, namely girlfriend Kim Kardashian and their new baby.

"Don't ask me a question about something you saw in the tabloids," he said. "Don't try to antagonize me. Because you know what, it's not safe for you in this zoo. Never think that I'm not from Chicago for one second, and think you can walk up and disrespect me and my family constantly."

So there.

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