Hello, my name is Kathryn Hayden Cusimano, and I have a confession to make: I love Kanye West, and I would like him to be my best friend. You may be surprised to hear about my platonic love for one of the world’s top rappers, but I ask you to look beyond this famous Kanye gaffe.  And this one. And this one, too. Take a step back and assess Kanye for who he is: a talented producer and rapper, a stellar wordsmith, and a total eccentric. Kanye is a bit of an egomaniac, I’ll give you that, but he never forgets to thank his fans for everything they continue to give him (i.e. money, support). To top it all off, he just seems like a fun person to hang out with. Read on to find out why I really really really want Kanye West to be my BFF.

1. He has a great sense of humor.
OK, ok, based on last week’s Today Show debacle, you may think Kanye doesn’t know how to have a good laugh. But anyone who’s read his tweets would know that's not true. Alternatively, you could watch Aziz Ansari’s Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening. You see, Ansari has what I so desperately want – he is friends with Kanye West. Ansari devotes a portion of his stand-up special to his relationship with Kanye, and if the bit is even 10 percent accurate, I know for sure that my longing for a friendship with Kanye is the real deal. In my favorite bit from the special, Ansari’s cousin Darwish accuses Kanye of “jacking beats.” You can see Kanye’s ingenious response here. See, Kanye is both funny and self-aware!

2. He connects with his fans.
Kanye knows who made him who he is today, and it isn’t Matt Lauer: he has his legions of fans to thank for his success, and he doesn’t forget it. He’s given impromptu performances on airplanes and even with other artists (a few years ago, I saw him make a surprise appearance at a Maroon 5 concert; he showed up to perform “Heard ‘Em Say” with Adam Levine. It. Was. Awesome.).

He also uses Twitter to connect with his fans, and connect he does: he tweets links to his latest recordings on Fridays (a tradition he calls “Good Fridays”), he retweets his fans’ comments, he waxes poetic on regret and loneliness – and then he rants about how Matt Lauer did his interview incorrectly. But there’s no doubt these tweets are coming straight from the horse’s mouth, and they reveal both the highs and lows of extreme fame. For example, he’ll retweet positive reviews of his music, and then rhetorically ask if it’s sad that he bought himself a Cartier “Love” bracelet.