Diagnosed with mental illness at 39, Kanye West considers it a superpower

Kanye West, US rapper and producer, says he was diagnosed with a mental condition at the age of 39.

The ‘Power’ rapper did not specify the nature of the mental condition but described it as a “superpower” which helps drive his creativity.

“I had never been diagnosed until I was 39. [It was] a mental condition,” Kanye said.

“But like I said on the album, it’s not a disability, it’s a superpower.”

Although the rapper didn’t name the condition, he talks about being bipolar on his eighth solo album’s cover and also on the second track ‘Yikes’.

The artwork for the album ‘Ye’ features a photo of mountains, with the inscription: “I hate being bipolar it’s awesome.”

On ‘Yikes’ Kanye raps: “That’s my bipolar shit, n***a what?/ That’s my superpower, n***a/ Ain’t no disability. I’m a superhero! I’m a superhero!”

Kanye also revealed he prefers to use the “world” as his therapist as opposed to traditional therapy routes.

“I use the world as my therapist,” the 40-year-old said.

“Anyone I talk to I talk to is my therapist. I will pull them into the conversation when I’m feeling at that point and get their perspective.

“Sometimes they’ll be like, ‘Damn, I’m talking to Ye, I’m not expecting to talk about this.’ I use that. I talk through things.

“Anybody that I’m around, and I’ll put that as advice to people. Use people around you as your therapist. Because they probably know more about you.

“A therapist does a crash course in Ye and then comes and is like, ‘I’m gonna give you some advice’.

“I’m not saying that therapists are bad, I’m just saying that I like just talking to acquaintances, friends, family, you know, and I’ll keep ’em on the phone, you know, for 45 minutes at a time, talking through things. It’s kind of narcissistic.”