I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means.

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

前进的唯一方式就是携手同行。

我们越爱我们的朋友，就越少奉承他们；纯粹的爱表现在毫不包庇的态度。

The past is not just the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing self-image.