It seems Kanye West might not have been joking when he ended his MTV VMAs speech by telling the audience he would be running for president in 2020.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, he talked about having five years to prepare for the race of a lifetime. But in true Kanye fashion, he said he prefers not to have anyone to run against.

"When I run for president, I'd prefer not to run against someone. I would be like 'I want to work with you.'”

He hasn’t come out to say which party he will run with, but he did call GOP hopeful nominee Ben Carson “brilliant.”

“As soon as I heard [Ben] Carson speak, I tried for three weeks to get on the phone with him,” he said. “I was like this is the most brilliant guy.”

The Yeezus rapper went on to call the presidential race a “gladiator battle,” saying it does everyone a disservice.

"I think all the people running right now have something that each of the others needs," he said. "But the idea of this separation and this gladiator battle takes away from the main focus that the world needs help and the world needs all the people in a position of power or influence to come together."

He also acknowledges he has a lot of maturing to do before he runs for president. "I sit in clubs and I'm like, Wow, I've got five years before I go and run for office and I've got a lot of research to do, I've got a lot of growing up to do," he said.

image courtesy of image via INFphoto.com