Kanye West Talks Past Struggles With Alcohol: ‘Devil, You’re Not Going to Beat Me Today’

Kanye West says he is living proof that God sometimes gets the last laugh. 

The entertainer spoke about his renewed commitment to Christ during his Saturday appearance at Awaken 2020, the massive evangelical prayer rally host in Tempe, Arizona. After delivering a performance of “Jesus Walks” with the Sunday Service choir, ‘Ye told the crowd that he considered himself a Trojan horse for God—a man who gained prominence as he worked for the devil, but would go on to use his fame to spread Jesus’ gospel.

“They always say the devil try to play a trick on somebody, but its like God getting the last laugh,” he said. “I started with this song, and this whole time, the devil thought he had me … This a Trojan horse if I ever seen one.”

Kanye continued: “He brought back my clarity. That’s where I found the truth. See, I’ve been the mental hospital and back, working for the devil. They didn’t think I was gonna get out. They had already grabbed the shovels. They said, ‘There’s something wrong with his head. So his career is dead.’ … But Jesus saves. No matter how long you’ve been away, no matter how long you’ve been in the dark, the light is right there, ready to save—to give you the confidence.”

He then touched on his past struggles with alcohol consumption, making a brief reference to his infamous 2009 VMAs incident with Taylor Swift.

“I never thought about the effect alcohol could have had on my life. I was drinking on the red carpet, and then running on stage a few minutes later,” he recalled. “And everyone around said, ‘Nah, he ain’t really no alcoholic.’ And then you get to the point where you’re drinking Grey Goose and orange juice for breakfast, thinking, ‘Nah, I ain’t really no alcoholic.'”

Kanye has been fairly candid about his past addictions to porn and Opioids, but has rarely addressed this particular vice. In late 2018, he shared a tweet about his failed attempts to give up alcohol, suggesting it was something he had battle for a long time.

So, when did ‘Ye finally decide to quit drinking? He said it happened one afternoon while he was working.

“There was some vodka in the refrigerator at my office, and sometimes I would just go ahead and take a drink from it in the middle of the day, and I was walking toward that kitchenette area, and I stopped myself and I said, ‘Devil you’re not gonna finna beat me today,'” he recalled. “And it’s something that we take on, day by day. Every day that I don’t pick up that drink, I beat the devil.”

You can watch Kanye and the Sunday Service choir’s full performance below.