Kanye West On Transforming His Wyoming Ranch Into a Yeezy Campus

In January of 2020, we went to visit Kanye West at his ranch near Cody, Wyoming—and found the property in the early stages of its transformation into a Yeezy Campus.

Here, GQ’s Will Welch talked to Kanye about his vision for the future.

- [Kanye] Yo, Will!- [Will] Yo, Ye.What was the first thought of spacethat led you to openingup like this in Calabasas,and in Cody, Wyoming?What was the seed of coming to a ranch?- [Kanye] I was looking for a spotto start the Yeezy Campus,and we needed thousands of acres.So, we went to the CalderaHouse in Jackson Hole,and started looking forproperty in Wyoming.And I believe this is thefirst property we looked at.By the time we wereabout to leave the ranch,I fell in love with it,and I bought it,and now we're here.- [Will] How many acresare we sitting on here?- [Kanye] This is 4,500.And we have another ranch that's 6,500.- [Will] So, what is your vision?What all is happening herenow, and how will it unfold?- [Kanye] This will beone of the Yeezy Campuses.And the Yeezy Campus will have the workthat our architecturalteam has been working on,with James Turrell,and Claudio Silvestrin,to create spaces that allow humansto maximize our potential,to take us outta the box.Literally and figuratively!We live in boxes.We leave the womb when we're born,and get put directly into the tomb.We get put [laughing] directlyinto our first square space,which is the beginning of us goingfrom being multidimensionaland completely imaginative,to placed on to a grid.Those boxes are those grids,that first it starts off with the crib.Then we go to schools where that's a box.Then we go to a higherlearning a lot o' times,and that's a box.And then we end up at a jobwhere we're working inside of a box.And then we do that to tryto buy a crib, actually.And then we, you know, have children,and then put our children in a crib.- [Will] So, instead of boxes,the Yeezy way of life will look like what?- [Kanye] More flow.- [Will] Has some of the workfor developing and buildingthose begun here already?- [Kanye] Yes, it has.- [Will] Where do we stand in the process?- [Kanye] In the middle of it.[both laughing]That's where I always stand.That's my favorite placeto stand in any process:in the middle.It's always a process.- [Will] What is the farmingelement that's underwayat this ranch or your other ranch?- [Kanye] We are going to have hydroponic,aquaponics, passive energy.But I'm not the expert.I work with experts to createthe best product for humanity.And that was the originalidea behind DONDA,to have the best of thebest working together.- [Will] How do you see SundayService playing a role here?- [Kanye] We definitelywill have services here.The inventions, and thedevelopments, and the innovationsthat I'm a part of alwaysbecome the new standard.- [Will] Eventually, willpeople come to visit here,or is it for your family?Will people be able to experiencethese shelters you're developing?- Yes, that will be someof the immediate goalswithin our lifetime.But ultimately, this willbe the paradigm shiftto create platforms for freer thoughtthan the boxes that we're in now.How that shot look over there?- [Cameraman] Still good.- Yeah, yeah, cool.[huffs] Have you triedthese on, right here?- [Will] No, I haven't.I've just tried the slides.- These are the best.You can play basketball in 'em.[wind whooshes gently]