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Kanye West says he passed on a multimillion-dollar partnership with Apple

Kanye West says he passed on a multimillion-dollar partnership with Apple

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Kanye West has made it no secret that he's a big fan of Apple, its attention to design, and its late founder, but he apparently turned down an opportunity to work with the company. According to The New York Times' T Magazine, West says that he passed on a "multimillion-dollar partnership with Apple." This was just one of many things that West brought up in a discussion with his design team — the story is about his ambitions in fashion — so the partnership isn't elaborated on. Apple declined to comment.

The partnership could have been about exclusive music

Assuming the offer was recent, the obvious possibility is that West is referring to a chance to give exclusive music or release windows to Beats. While we don't know for sure that he was approached, it's been suggested that Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine has been speaking with some of the same artists that went on to found Tidal. West's music would be a big score and a quick way to get people using Beats, but it's perhaps no surprise that he'd turn Beats away to work with Jay Z and other musicians on Tidal.

The other possibility — and this does seem less likely — is that Apple approached West about a design partnership. While that probably wouldn't be Apple's style (for some reason, it only collaborates with U2 on hardware…), it could also be a great idea. West very much seems like he'd be interested in working with Apple, and he's hugely interested in design. If Apple is trying to be cooler, getting West's help would be a quick way to get there. For now, unfortunately, we're stuck dreaming of what West would do with a custom Apple Watch.