Kanye West has jumped in the ring to defend the late Michael Jackson despite the iconic artist facing public scrutiny over his child molestation allegations.

During a recent interview with Pharrell for i-D magazine, ’Ye compared the treatment he’s received from the media to that of MJ as he stood up for Jackson’s legacy and accomplishments.

While complimenting the Neptunes producer for the musical barriers he has broken over the years, Kanye said that Pharrell has “tore down the walls and the doors much like Michael Jackson did a generation before.”

“In a way, he’s very similar to Michael Jackson, in the ways where Michael Jackson was doing covert, super gangsta stuff, like he’d just pop the needles off,” the Chicago-bred rapper continues. “He kissed Elvis Presley’s daughter on MTV. Black culture used to be…we used to be fronting all night, but Michael was doing stuff that was different to what we were programmed to understand as being what we should do. He bought The Beatles’ back catalogue. That was Mike Jackson, right there.”

The G.O.O.D. Music founder then says that companies should be prohibited from diminishing the feats of legendary individuals, whom he deems “heroes.”

“We should have something that says we can’t allow any company to tear down our heroes,” Kanye says. “Not on The Shade Room, not on social media and especially not in documentaries. I’m like every time the media isn’t happy with me it’s like, ‘Here they go. They’re gonna come and Wacko Jacko me.’ Which in some ways, they’ve tried to do.”

This isn’t the first time Kanye has shared favorable thoughts on Michael Jackson. Last year, during a Sunday Service performance, ’Ye spoke on the Leaving Neverland documentary, which focuses on two men who claim they were sexually abused by Jackson as children. He could have been alluding to R. Kelly’s Surviving R. Kelly documentary as well. 

“They just gonna pull up full documentaries on him,” he said in a clip that began circulating on social media. “Then they gonna come with the Michael [Jackson] documentary…We can all enjoy all their music all we want. I thought I wasn’t going to go there today. If we’re gonna tear down artists, let’s go ahead and take [Leonardo] da Vinci out the Lourve. Let’s take down all the art.”

Shortly after, Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian-West, stepped in to clarify his statement, saying that he was referring to his own personal experiences with cancel culture.

See 15 Rappers With the Best Gimmicks of All Time

Theo Wargo, Getty Images / EminemMusic via YouTube

Eminem

Gimmick: Slim Shady
Eminem’s alter ego Slim Shady certainly had a darker side. Under the guise of Slim, the persona gave Em the freedom to aim his vitriol at anyone he pleases—often celebrities and other rappers. His more “evil” and comical side is what drew many of his fans to his music. While his violent storylines of murdering his mother and girlfriend are purely fictional, it became the controversial part of his gimmicky character.

Peter Kramer, Getty Images / Def Jam Roc-A-Fella

Kanye West

Gimmick: The Dropout Bear Mascot
In 2004, Kanye West introduced The Dropout Bear on the cover of his 2004 debut album, The College Dropout. Initially, the bear wasn’t part of any marketing plan for the project, according to Kanye’s former manager Plain Pat. In a a 2014 interview, he said that the bear mascot costume just happened to be at a school where Kanye was doing a photo shoot for the album and he decided to wear it. Thus, a gimmick was born. Kanye would use the Dropout Bear on his 2005 LP Late Registration and an animated version (designed by artist Takashi Murakami) for the cover of his 2007 effort, Graduation.

Young Money / Cash Money Records

Nicki Minaj

Gimmick: Barbie
Nicki Minaj named herself Barbie and even appeared like an imaginary doll on the cover of her 2010 album Pink Friday. Interestingly, Nicki came up with the name by accident. “I just said one day…instead of saying, ‘Bye’ I said ‘It’s Barbie bitch,’ ” she explained to MTV News in 2010. “I could just imagine a Barbie becoming like a Chucky and you think it’s all cute but the head starts spinning or something crazy and the kids just took that and ran with it.” Those kids she speaks of are her Barbz, an international army of devoted fans that know all her songs and will vehemently go after anyone who tries to disrespect their Queen.

Michael Loccisano, Getty Images / Priority Records

Master P

Gimmick: No Limit Army Tank
In the late 1990s, Master P bulldozed his way into the rap game like a tank with No Limit Records. More than just a gimmick, the tank represented his elite army of rappers on his iconic label. Among the artists rapping on his powerhouse imprint included Mystikal, Snoop Dogg, Mia X and Master P’s brothers Silkk The Shocker and C-Murder. The tank eventually become a mascot for the label with Master P driving a gold-plated vehicle for his video for “Make ‘Em Say Ugh.”

Theo Wargo, Getty Images / The Fifth Estate via YouTube

DMX

Gimmick: Pitbulls, Barking like a dog
DMX’s affinity for canines is way more than just puppy love. The former Ruff Ryders rapper has a deep connection with man’s best friend. So X incorporated that into his persona and music. X can be heard barking and rapping on tracks like “Get at Me Dog” and in his promotional campaign photos he was often photographed handling pitbulls. While this may have seemed strange upon first growl, it worked for DMX.

Gee Street Records / V2 Records

The Gravediggaz

Gimmick: Horrorcore
The Gravediggaz are one of many influential groups in the horrorcore hip-hop sub-genre. The group consisted of RZA (a.k.a. The RZArector), Frukwan (a.k.a. The Gatekeeper), the late Poetic (a.k.a. The Grym Reaper) and Prince Paul (a.k.a. The Undertaker). Much like the Wu-Tang Clan tapping into martial arts flicks, the Gravediggaz utilized cinematic themes from horror movies to create their 1994 debut album, 6 Feet Deep. While some people might consider horrorcore a gimmick, the Gravediggaz’s gruesome melodramas of murder and mayhem would later influence rappers like Eminem and Tyler, The Creator to explore dark themes in their music.

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images,

Megan Thee Stallion

Gimmick: Hot Girl Summer / Drive the Boat
In the summer of 2019, Megan Thee Stallion teamed up with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign for the girl-power anthem “Hot Girl Summer.” The song sparked a viral meme on social media involving women (and some men) to post selfies of themselves in their flyest summertime gear and captioning their photos “It’s a hot girl summer.” Additionally, the 2019 XXL Freshman also promoted the phrase “Drive the boat” long before her hit song came to fruition. For the uniformed, “driving the boat” consists of taking straight shots of liquor, preferably Hennessy or D’usse. And like the boss that she is, Megan had the term “Hot Girl Summer” trademarked for a wide range of uses.

Atlantic Records

Kwame The Boy Genius

Gimmick: Polka Dots
Thirty years ago, Kwame turned heads by living in a world of polka dots for his 1990 sophomore album, A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure. His polka dot suits started a new fashion trend in hip-hop and became part of the rapper’s gimmick. So much so that his fans would dress up like him. The trend didn’t last long. The Notorious B.I.G. officially buried the fashion style on his classic 1994 song “Unbelievable”, in which he spits, “Your life is played out like Kwame and them fuckin’ polka dots.”

Peter Kramer, Getty Images

MF Doom

Gimmick: The Metal Mask
MF Doom, formerly Zev Love K of 1980’s rap group KMD, is arguably the most elusive rapper in the rap game. Along with being evasive, the metal mask he uses as a disguise is a gimmick that has kept him shrouded in mystery for many years. As MF Doom, which was inspired by Marvel’s evil comic book character Doctor Doom, he’s been able to garner a huge fan base. However, the gimmick has irked his fans as well. In the past, Doom has been known to send an imposter in his place to perform at his concerts without any explanation.

Kevin Winter, Getty Images / Now This World via YouTube

Jay-Z

Gimmick: The Rockefeller Family
John D. Rockefeller Sr. was a billionaire oil tycoon in the 1880s that at one time was worth over $340 billion. Jay-Z, Dame Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke were inspired by the Rockefeller family’s entrepreneurial spirit and called their label Roc-A-Fella Records, a twist on the Rockefeller namesake. The Roc has been represented in the form of a hand signal (throwing up a diamond shape with both hands), diamond chains and merch galore. Although not quite as wealthy as John D. Rockefeller once was, Hov has amassed a huge fortune for himself. Jay-Z is currently a billionaire from his recordings, Roc Nation and TIDAL ownerships, and investments in other companies such as Uber.

UPROXX via YouTube

Lady of Rage

Gimmick: Afro Puffs
Lady of Rage managed to make Dr. Dre’s signature G-Funk production bounce with bravado from a woman’s perspective on her 1994 single “Afro Puffs.” Although Rage wasn’t fond of the single, it became a top five hit on the Billboard Rap Songs chart. Additionally, her afro puff hairstyle became her signature look that represented her street attitude at the time. Her look inspired many young girls to follow her lead with the hairstyle.

Amy Sussman, Getty Images / Vice via YouTube

Rick Ross

Gimmick: Former Drug Kingpin Ricky “Freeway Rick” Ross
Rick Ross has certainly made a name for himself with his drug culture-inspired rhymes. Adopting the persona of real-life drug kingpin Ricky “Freeway Rick” Ross is a gimmick that has brought him much success and side-eyes from haters. In June of 2010, “Freeway” Ricky Ross filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against the Maybach Music Group honcho for $10 million, claiming the rapper based his persona off Freeway’s life. After a three-year legal battle, a judge sided with Rick Ross, ruling that the Miami rapper has “entitlement to protection” to use the name under the First Amendment.

Wu Tang Collection via YouTube

The Wu-Tang Clan

Gimmick: Classic Kung Fu Films
Legendary producer RZA is a huge martial arts fan. His inspiration to form the Wu-Tang Clan was inspired by hours of watching classic Hong Kong Kung Fu films like 1978’s The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and 1983’s Shaolin and Wu Tang. RZA injected plenty of cinematic flavor into the Wu-Tang Clan’s classic 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) through soundbites and dialogue from various Kung Fu movies. More than just a gimmick, the Wu merged hip-hop with martial arts and introduced fans to a genre of movies that also inspired a young man from Compton named Kendrick Lamar, a.k.a. Kung Fu Kenny.

Scott Gries, Getty Images

Eve

Gimmick: Pitbull in a Skirt
Much like her Ruff Ryders cohort DMX, Eve latched on to the canine gimmick by calling herself a “pitbull in a skirt” on her 1999 single, “What Ya Want.” “Puttin’ it down, Ruff Ryders put in they work/Snatched up the illest, vicious pitbull in a skirt (Grrrrrr)/Makin ’em hurt, haters steady dishing up dirt,” she raps on the song. The former First Lady of Ruff Ryders would become more than just a pitbull in a skirt, eventually becoming an actress, a fashion designer and a co-host on the daytime talk show The Talk.

Eugene Gologursky, Getty Images / Def Jam

Jeezy

Gimmick: The Snowman
In 2005, when Jeezy was then known as Young Jeezy, he designed an angry snowman with furrowed eyebrows and a straight line for a mouth and slapped it on a T-shirt. The new tee would become part of his marketing plan to promote his debut album, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 with merch that flooded the streets of ATL and beyond. The Atlanta rapper then had a diamond-encrusted snowman medallion made and wore it on the cover of his Trap or Die mixtape. For Jeezy, the snowman symbolizes being a bona fide hustler. “Snowman is a cool dude,” he told MTV News in 2005. “He’s a gangsta, too. There’s a Snowman in every ’hood, several Snowmen in the ’hood. You gotta be that dude to look up to with the car and the girl. Whatever you do, be the best at it, because that’s what the Snowman is going to do.” Jeezy is a cool dude and knows how to market himself.