During an appearance on The New York Times Popcast with journalists Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, Yung Lean opened up about his brief connection with Kanye West and explained why he decided to pull away from him.
“Kanye is mentally ill,” Lean said around the 1:06:40 mark of the interview. “I’ve been there and I feel for him, and I think all this stuff that he says about Jewish people—my grandfather was Jewish… I don’t know, I can’t defend him, but it’s a mentally ill person who still did ‘Flashing Lights.’ … I haven’t seen him for a long time now, ‘cause it’s too much. I can’t really be around it.”
The 29-year-old Swedish rapper was last seen with Ye and Bianca Censori during a day out at Disneyland in 2023, sparking rumors of a potential collaboration. Although nothing came of it musically, fans did get a viral photo of the two riding an attraction together.
Reflecting on their earlier interactions, Lean recalled, “When I was alone with him like three years ago and we just had dinner, it was lovely. It was fun. It was like two kids sharing ideas, and he has a big heart, and you can tell that it’s all good. But then, the next time I saw him, I could feel that the vibe had gone darker, and then the tweets started coming. It was too much.”
Lean agreed with the hosts that his decision to step back wasn’t about preserving his public image, but protecting his own mental health. He’s been open about his bipolar disorder diagnosis since 2017 and continues to manage it with medication.
“I mean, the public shit, I don’t really care too much about, but I just felt like, ‘Oh, I’m being dragged into something that I’ve been dragged into myself,’” Lean explained. “And the best thing I could do is not, you know, make a song with this man. It’s more like, ‘I’ve been manic, too, I’ve been psychotic. Lithium works, this works.’ But he’s not going to listen to anyone. And that’s his thing.”
When the hosts suggested that some artists believe mental health medication dulls creativity, Lean firmly disagreed.
“That’s not true, not true at all,” he said. “There are certain types of bipolar antipsychotics that don’t numb you down or take away your creativity. Even when I was really manic and psychotic, I wasn’t more creative — I was just more sloppy. I’d be like, ‘Let’s start one song here. Let’s book a flight to India here. Let’s start a painting here.’ … It’s like being on a drug; you think you’re doing all this cool shit, but you’re not really doing anything. So, I do feel for him, and I know there’s a great heart in there, and that’s all I can say.”
Lean emphasized the importance of showing that people can still be creative while managing their mental health responsibly.
“You can really be bipolar on medication and still be super creative,” he concluded. “I’m not saying I have it all figured out, but right now I feel very close.”
Watch the full interview above.
