Kanye West Explains Paparazzi Attack at LAX [Video]

There's a few adjectives to describe Kanye West's relationship with the paparazzi. None of them are positive. Paparazzi approached him again today, but this time, the rapper was actually receptive to them. He even explained why he attacked a paparazzo last summer in footage captured by TMZ.

When the paparazzi encountered West that day in July, he had just found out his grandfather was on his deathbed. The 'Yeezus' creator says he felt antagonized and he was just trying to stop the camera when the paparazzo "fell down, fainted and people are talking about 'Yo, why'd you hit this guy?' Obviously, you didn't hit the guy."

Now that West explained himself, it's understandable why he went off. And yeah, it still doesn't look like he threw any punches.

He was calm and collected despite a paparazzo's flippant comment at the beginning of the video. "My mama told me to respect doctors, [not to] respect people where they're from," he says.

The comment referred to West's jab at paparazzi during his highly-publicized interview with Jimmy Kimmel earlier this week. "It’s not safe for you in this zoo. Never think that I'm not from Chicago for one second," West said. It's a rather combative statement, which is why it may be surprising to some to see the MC acting so cool with paparazzi in this clip.

The 'Blood on the Leaves' rhymer elaborated that he's defensive against paparazzi because of his family, especially his daughter, North. "I couldn't imagine your daughter being like 4 years old and you guys screaming at [her]," he explains.