Alongside Taylor Swift, Beck, and George W. Bush, temperamental rap genius Kanye West has a new mortal enemy: 3D Printing.

Kanye West is a colorful figure in music, fashion and popular culture, that much we know. His superlative music is peppered with car-crash appearances at award ceremonies. Oh, and he’s married to a Kardashian.

But today we learned something new about the man called Yeezus; he has a morbid fear of 3D printing.

In the latest episode of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” (where else), Kim and Kanye are paying a visit to the Kardashian homeland of Armenia.

West took a tour around the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, an after-school program that provides teenagers the chance to work with new technology. The tour was documented earlier this summer on the official Tumo blog. Speaking to one of the instructors and gesticulating at a 3D printer, Kanye let his opinions fly:

“This is what I’m afraid of… Because the internet destroyed the music industry and now, this is what we’re afraid of right now with the textile industry.”

Of course, the Tumo instructor explained what most 3D printers already know — 3D printing will always require a highly skilled designer. To which, Kanye responded: “Yeah, but it’s like, there will come a time when people are making their shoes at home.”

Imma Let You Finish, Kanye West, But…

We cover relevant stories all the time: 3D printing in sports, jewelry and, yes, people are already 3D printing clothes.

Having conquered the world of music, Kanye aspires to do the same as a fashion designer, and he’s definitely right to sense that 3D printing will change the future of textiles. However, it’s interesting that Kanye doesn’t seem to realize exactly how 3D printing may change the industry.

If, in the not-too-distant future, household 3D printers become affordable and normalized, people will still buy designer clothing. Considering that Kanye’s latest sweatshirts start at €390, he clearly doesn’t have to worry about fans 3D printing his designs just to save a few bucks. Plus, if his material is as high-quality as he claims, it will be a while before 3D printers can tackle such delicate products with ease.

Perhaps West is right to fear what 3D printing will do for the future. It can bring down production costs, and signals an age where a designer can bring something into the world simply by putting a printable 3D model on the internet. Perhaps this means the future will bring new kinds of designers — ones that don’t require a huge name and huge amounts of money to manufacture a product, just the skills to design them.

In which case, maybe Kanye West should be afraid of 3D printing…

Image source: Tumo