Kanye West opened up about his late mother Donda West in a preview of the rapper’s appearance on David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
West’s mother died in 2007 from complications after cosmetic surgery and never got to meet her four grandchildren, North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.
“This would have been the funnest time of her life to have those kids running around that house, and being able to, like, go and buy them toys…” the rapper told Letterman.
West also recalled a story about one of the final gifts his mother gave him: a colorful bear. “I remember my mother bought me a bear that was multicolored, and I was very into (Japanese artist) Takashi Murakami at the time (of my) third album, Graduation, so she bought it and she said, ‘That kind of feels like Murakami. And then I was sort of like, ‘I don’t want that—that ain’t no Takashi Murakami bear.’”
But his feelings about the gift quickly changed because she passed just a few weeks later. “I did everything I could to find that bear (and) place that bear on top of all the Takashi Murakami stuff I had in the house,” he added.
The rapper also revealed that he felt her spirit with him. “But she’s here with us, and she’s guiding us,” he said.
West’s interview with Letterman is set to premiere on Netflix May 31st, along with My Next Guest Needs No Introduction episodes dedicated to Ellen DeGeneres, Tiffany Haddish, racer Lewis Hamilton and more.