Kanye West: Exclusive interview

HE'S a producing god and a lyrical genius - but Gold Digger star KANYE WEST has had to dig deep to overcome a year from hell.

I met up with the hip-hop hero for a chat, his ONLY newspaper interview while he's over here promoting new album 808s & Heartbreak.

Kanye revealed all about the split with his fiancée, fear of the women he'll bed crying rape and his agony following the death of his mum.

Wearing his trademark sunnies in the bar of his favourite London hotel, The Landmark in Marylebone, Kanye said: "Anyone who says they are happy single is lying. I think you can only be happy in love. So I'm still looking.

"I wanna have kids, but I want the right girl. I like sex but I like fashion too. How many girls have a hot body and great fashion sense too?

"The pursuit of p**** can see you in scary situations. A girl might say, 'Oh he raped me.' Then you'd have to fight to get your name back."

Kanye lost the two most important women in his life last year. First his mum and manager Donda died, then he split with fiancée, Alexis Phifer.

Donda died after suffering complications during a cosmetic surgery operation.

Kanye says: "My lifestyle affected Mum because she was my manager so when I moved to California she did too. I feel that in California she did stuff that she wouldn't have done if she was still in Chicago.

"I was devastated and down. But I wrote this record in three weeks because it came from the heart.

"It took a lot of devastation for me to make - but everything has come from my hell.

"But I have to look at life with hope and love now. From here on out, I'll do exactly what I want to do."