Kanye West rocked Essence Music Festival over the weekend and spoke during his set about the dark side of the media. 

Performing on Saturday, July 2 at the New Orleans event, the 'Heartless' rapper told the crowd that he doesn't do interviews any more because "the press be trying to kill me" and that working in such a poisonous industry is discouraging:

"It feels good to be home. When I say home, I'm talking about with my people. I been around the world... got into a little controversy here and there. Even though the media tries to lie to you every day I just wanna say I thank ya'll for standing by me and supporting me even when they said my career was over."

He added:

"I don't do interviews anymore because the press be trying to kill me, I let the music speak for itself."

Watch fan-recorded footage of West talking about his musical influences live on stage at Essence here: