Kanye West: Obama used me

Kanye West says he's done trading insults with President Barack Obama.

'I'm not gonna mention him no more, I'm past that,' the rapper said in an interview with Hot 107.9 that aired Monday. 'That's out my thoughts. That's lowering my priority of thinking at this point.' West and Obama have been at odds since 2009, when the president called him a 'jackass' for his behavior at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Recalling the incident, West said he felt 'used' by Obama, whom he'd endorsed for president a year before.

'Oh, you talking about how he use to come and visit me and my mama and tell me that he's about to run for president?' West said. 'I just think that we're pop icons, and the president likes to use that type of thing just to be down and stuff. People was fine with me being everyone's punching bag for about five years - 'Man, this is the person we love to hate, so if you want to distract people from everything that's going on [...] just say you hate Kanye and there's going be 30 other people who say they hate Kanye.' That was kind of my position in culture so he also used that too - 'Oh, he's a jackass' - because that's how the world felt.'

'I don't care if someone's the president or not,' West added. 'I care about thoughts and how you helping people and what you bring to the world.'

Read more about: Kanye West