Kanye West is one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. The hip-hop titan graces one of five magazine covers honoring the artists, icons, and leaders who are shaping the future. He appears alongside actor Bradley Cooper, ballet dancer Misty Copeland, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos.
“Everytime I say something that’s extremely truthful out loud, it literally breaks the Internet,” says ‘Ye. “I don’t care about having a legacy, I don’t care about being remembered. The most important thing to me is while I’m here, what can we do for each other to make life easier, make life doper for our kids as they grow?”
His mother inspired his creativity by buying him an Omega computer game, which taught him to produce in seventh grade.
“My mother made me believe in me,” he says. “[My parents] just let me dream. They supported me. They pushed me. They didn’t set me up to be inside of a box.”
“Our focus needs to be less about what our legacy is gonna be or how we’re gonna control each other, but more how can we give to each other.”
Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk pens a tribute to the rapper in the magazine.
“Now that he’s a pop-culture juggernaut, he has the platform to achieve just that,” writes Musk. “He’s not afraid of being judged or ridiculed in the process. Kanye’s been playing the long game all along, and we’re only just beginning to see why.”
His wife Kim Kardashian is also on the list, and received her own write-up from Martha Stewart, who compared her and her family to the Brady Bunch.
“Kim comes across as an enviable big sister in a clan where everyone seems to love one another,” she says.
Others on the TIME 100 list include Lee Daniels, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Taylor Swift.