Kanye West's appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday was in many ways the West we're used to seeing: raw, unedited and real.
And what many thought would be a funny or awkward appearance on the show after West and Jimmy Kimmel had a much publicized tiff, turned into a somewhat serious and tense conversation – and often diatribe from Kanye West – on classism, racism, being a celebrity and his fight to make his mark on the world with his creativity and music.
West was Kimmel's only guest on Wednesday's show and the 30-minute conversation the two had dominated the show.
Kimmel immediately started off by apologizing for the skit his show aired mocking West's interview with BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe, where he expressed frustration for being dismissed in the fashion world and said he was the "biggest" rock star in the world.
The spoof of the interview featured two kids playing West and Lowe mocking a portion of it. Two days after the spoof aired, West took to Twitter to air his grievances against the late-night comedian – starting what Kimmel jokingly called a "rap feud" on his show.
"I felt really bad about all this stuff – I really did," Kimmel said to West on Wednesday.
And the late-night host said he thought West wanted people to understand where he was coming from after his Twitter tirade. Kimmel also admitted that he hadn't watched the entire interview and took it out of context in the spoof.
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"The main reason I did that is because I like to see kids curse," Kimmel joked. "I think it's funny."
Both men also said that the apparent feud was not a publicity stunt, as had been rumored.
But that didn't seem to phase West, who referred to himself as a "creative genius."
"When you said you think you're a genius, I think that upsets people," Kimmel said. "But the truth is a lot of people think they're geniuses, but nobody says it because it's weird to say it. But it is most certainly more honest to say, 'I am a genius.'"
The hip-hop star then went on another rant – similar to his interview on BBC Radio – where he expressed the same frustrations with the fashion world, the paparazzi and the media.
"I could care less about any of these cameras, in all honesty, all I care about is my family. I care about protecting my girl, my baby, and protecting my ideas and my dreams. And that's the reason I went so crazy," West said of the BBC Radio interview.
He compared his struggles to get big fashion houses to take his ideas seriously with Michael Jackson's early struggles to land his music videos on MTV.
"There's no black guy at the end of the runway in Paris in all honesty," West said at one point. He also complained that his realty star girlfriend Kim Kardashian was not deemed qualified for her own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Kimmel said that he thought Kanye was a "nice guy" but that many people thought he was arrogant and a "jerk" because of his honest and often abrasive persona.
"I'm totally weird and I'm totally honest and I'm totally inappropriate sometimes. And the thing is, for me to say I wasn't a genius, I would just be lying to you and to myself," West said in response.
West bemoaned a culture that encourages celebrities to be treated like "zoo animals," and called for paparazzi to respect him during their interactions.
"Don't ask me a question about something you saw in the tabloids," he said. "Don't try to antagonize me. Because you know what, it's not safe for you in this zoo. Never think that I'm not from Chicago for one second, and think you can walk up and disrespect me and my family constantly."
West was unapologetic about his perceived persona.
"You're going to love me, you're going to hate me, but I'm going to be me," the rapper said.
Check out more of the Jimmy Kimmel/Kanye West exchange below:
