Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is currently on the media circuit and  he recently held court with The Guardian, expounding on a number of issues. However, Reznor saved much of his passionate banter for one particular individual: Kanye West. Reznor scolded the Guardian for wasting so much ink on the controversial rapper. “How many Kanye West thinkpieces have the Guardian done in the last fucking month?” he said. “The guy’s lost his fucking mind: that’s the thinkpiece. His record sucked, and that’s it. He has made great shit; he’s not in a great place right now.”

Reznor’s other topic of discussion wasn’t as intense, but was no less opinionated, and a little depressing. When asked about the influence of President Donald Trump and current state of the United States, he’s blunt about what he thinks about his own country.

“The rise of Trumpism, of tribalism; the celebration of stupidity. I’m ashamed, on a world stage, at what we must look like as a culture. It’s seeing life through the eyes of having four small kids – what are they coming into?”

Reznor said that these topics are touched upon more generally on his upcoming album Bad Witch. Referring to human beings as “a mutation and an accident”, he predicts nothing less than despair in America’s collective future.

“We’ve got dumber, more tribalised; we’ve found niches of other people that focus on extremity. For the miracle of everyone sharing ideas, I see a hell of a lot more racism. It doesn’t feel like we’ve advanced,” he said. “I think you’re seeing the fall of the empire of America in real time, before your eyes; the internet has eroded the fabric of decency in our civilisation.”

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat