He speaks.

Kanye West very rarely updates his Twitter account, and when he does, he’s often reacting to an incident concerning him in the public sphere, a la the Jimmy Kimmel memes, the infamous “New Slaves is the best rap verse in rap history” tweet, and his re-tweet of Kim Kardashian‘s now-famous post-pregnancy mirror pic. Today, in similar fashion, West reacted on Twitter to his name being all over the internet once again, but this time it was for the 10th anniversary of The College Dropout, which was released on February 10th, 2004.

We’ve read, updated, and covered the many, many things the hip-hop and pop culture communities have had to say about this momentous occasion, but finally we have a statement from Kanye, and it reads:

Ten years ago today we finally released what had been my life’s work up to that point: The College Dropout. I say “finally” because it was a long road, a constant struggle, and a true labor of love to not only convince my peers and the public that I could be an artist, but to actually get that art out for the world to hear. I am extremely grateful to each and every person along that road who helped, lent an ear, lent their voice, gave of their heart to that project, and to all the projects that followed, and are to come. I am honored and humbled by my fans, for the unwavering support and love over the past ten years. I wake up every day trying to give something back to you that you can rock to and be proud of. Ten years later I am still the same kid from Chicago, still dreaming out loud, still banging on the door. The doors may be heavier but I promise you WE WILL BREAK THEM.

-Kanye West