Kanye West's four minutes on stage was a mysterious, and highly anticipated, part of the MTV Video Music Awards. He gave a speech that addressed the controversy around his song "Famous," and whether Taylor Swift gave permission for her name to be used in his song. He also talked about his creative inspirations, and even shouted out his ex Amber Rose, before introducing his video for the song "Fade," featuring Teyana Taylor.

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A partial transcript of his speech is below:

"I am Kanye West, and that feels really great to say, especially this year. I came here to present my new video, but before I do that, Imma talk. Now, later tonight, "Famous" might lose to Beyoncé, but I can't be mad, I'm always wishing for Beyoncé to win, so…

But for people to understand just how blessed we are, it was an expression of our now. Our fame right now. Us on the inside of the TV. You know, just to put, the audacity to put Anna Wintour right next to Donald Trump. I mean, like, I put Ray J in there, bro! This is fame, bro! Like—I see you, Amber [Rose, West's ex.] My wife is a G, not many people's wives would let them say that. We came over in the same boat, now we all in the same bed. Well, maybe different boats.

But if you think about, last week, it was 22 people murdered in Chicago. You know, like, people come up to me, like, 'Man, that's right, tell Taylor this.' Bro, like, I love all y'all. That's why I called her.

So, I was speaking at the Art Institute last year, and one kid came up to me and he said, 'Three of my friends died, and I don't know if I'm going to be the next.' You know, you have to think, you know when you're a senior and it's your last month and you don't feel like doing any more work? If you feel like you're seeing people dying right next to you, you might feel like, 'What's the point?' Life might start to feel worthless in a way. For me, I sit down and talk to older, rich people, a.k.a. "white," you know, and they tell me, 'Don't compare yourself to Steve Jobs, don't compare yourself to Walt Disney.' My friend Sakiya told me, 'There are three keys to keeping people impoverished: taking away their esteem, taking away their resources, and taking away their role models.' My role models are artist-merchants. Less than 10 I can name in history. Truman, Ford, Hughes, Disney, Jobs, West.

Tonight, we're here to have fun. I'm standing in front of my idol, Puff Daddy. I'm standing here in front of my wife, Kim Kardashian West. I'm standing in front of the future, Chance the Rapper. 2 Chainz, Jaden Smith. We are undeniably the influence, the thought leaders. I'm gonna play y'all a piece of my art, and I hope you just have a good time."