Rapper Kanye West has made huge cultural waves with his continued support for President Donald Trump.

He has faced backlash within his own industry for his backing of the president — but the artist has refused to back down.

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Even Trump himself has thanked the rapper for his support.

In an interview he did Wednesday with WGCI 107.5, a radio station in Chicago, West took some time to flesh out his support for the president — and to defend Trump’s relationship to black communities.

“I know black people that voted for Trump that were scared to say [that] out loud. Now that’s some ‘1984’ thought control programming s***,” West said.

He later added in the interview that Trump gave black communities an opportunity “as an entire community to see things that we weren’t seeing when Obama was in office. We as a collective wasn’t ‘woke.’ Now everybody is woke.”

West has been heavily critical of former President Barack Obama in the past.

“Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed,” he tweeted about the former president in April.

He added, “Obama was our opioids. It made us feel like everything was good.”

“I feel that he cares about the way black people feel about him.”

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West was also asked whether he feels the current president cares about black people.

“I feel that he cares about the way black people feel about him, and he would like for black people to like him like they did when he was cool in the rap songs and all this. And he will do the things that are necessary to make that happen because he’s got an ego like all the rest of us,” West commented.

“And he wants to be the greatest president, and he knows that he can’t be the greatest president without the acceptance of the black community.”

“So it’s something he’s gonna work towards,” he added, “but we’re gonna have to speak to him.”

To see West talk more about his support for President Trump, check out the video below:

(photo credit: Kanye West, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Rodrigo Ferrari)