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Kanye West’s Talked-About “Broke Black Dudes” Speech Airs on BET: Watch Now

Kanye West is nothing if not verbose. The Grammy-winning rapper, 37, gave one of his famous rambling speeches at the 2015 BET Honors, which aired on Monday, Feb. 23.

Quotes from the talked-about sermon first made their way online last month, offering a peek into West’s thoughts on everything from his wife Kim Kardashian, to racism, to his own musical journey. The “Only One” singer was honored with the Visionary Award at the awards show, and took the stage to address the star-studded crowd.

Related: PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Sweetest PDA Moments

Accepting the trophy from one of his first mentors, music mogul Damon Dash, West asked the audience, “Do you mind if I put the award down? It’s easier for me to talk.”

Talk he did in an impressive nine-minute speech, which began with West asserting, “Maybe for one of the first times in my life, I understand how it is to feel humbled.” After giving thanks to various supporters in his career, Yeezy went on to reference his wife Kardashian.

Related: PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West: The Perfect Match

“It was interesting when I went and visited Minister Louis Farrakhan and I really wanted to just expand so much more on the things that I have been talking about over the past couple years,” he began of the Nation of Islam leader. “It was interesting or groundbreaking, and really special, for me to see his reaction and his expression about my relationship with a woman not of color. For us to focus on the idea of love and not the idea of separation.” 

kim and kanye at BET honors
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West arrive at the BET Honors Awards in Washington, DC on January 24, 2015

“At the barbershop and everything, I used to hear people always talking about, ‘Man you know when an entertainer get on, of course you know he gon’ go and get a white girl and all this… and the white girl gon’ go get a rich black dude,’ you know?” he continued, laughing as he spoke. “But I wanna say that my wife has dated broke black dudes. So it ain’t got nothing to do with the money.”

Related: PHOTOS: Kanye West's Most Outrageous Moments

Kardashian, who has earned tens of millions of dollars on her own, started dating old pal West in early 2012, a few months after her short-lived marriage to Kris Humphries. The reality star, 34, and the rapper welcomed their first child, daughter North, in June 2013, and exchanged vows with the rapper in a lavish European ceremony in May 2014.

“It takes me back to a story,” West continued of his wife at the BET Honors. “She told me her father, Robert Kardashian, walked out and on the side of his Bentley, they wrote ‘N—-r lover.’ Because Robert Kardashian was the genius that put together the defense team that got O.J. [Simpson] off.”

Related: PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West's $20 Million Estate: All the Pictures

“She had never seen her father curse, get mad. He was the most laid-back human being. And he went so crazy and tried to chase the people down,” he continued of the people that vandalized the late Robert Kardashian’s car. “She’s sitting there crying and said, ‘Dad, why you going so crazy?’ He said to her, ‘One day, you may have a black child… a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful black child… and it’s gonna be hard. You’re gonna see how hard it is.'”

After speaking about his own family, West went on to address racism and the so-called “slave mentality” that he sees in current culture, the power of expression, and individual’s responsibility to the human race. 

Watch West’s full, unedited BET speech in the video above!

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