In the face of battery and grand theft charges, rapper Kanye West has made an attempt to put his attack on a paparazzo into context. West claims that he tried to grab photographer Daniel Ramos' camera and wrestle him to the ground after receiving some bad news regarding the health of his grandfather.

Kanye West Kim Kardashian
Kanye & His Young Family Are Accustomed To Being Hounded By Press.

"The guy [Ramos] set me up at the airport the other day. You know he was f**king laughing and s**t...That's the day that I found out my grandfather was not gonna [sic] make it. He passed two weeks later. But when I'm coming out the airport, because it's Kanye or whatever, [paparazzi think], 'We're gonna f**k with him, we're gonna antagonize him,'" said Kanye to a videographer at a Calabasas gas station, via ABC News.

He added, "I tried to stop his camera and stuff, he fell down, faked it, then people are talking about, 'Oh, yo, why'd you hit that guy?' I obviously didn't hit the guy, but I'm going through s**t (in my personal life)..." In defence of his actions, West claimed he acted in self-defence after fearing that his safety was at risk, but has now claimed that Ramos purposefully tried to get a reaction out of him which worked because he was upset.

Kanye West MTV
West Was Involved In A Violent Altercation With A Photographer.

The 36 year-old 'Power' star, who could face up to a year in jail if convicted of battery and theft, is known for having a short fuse when it comes to media intrusion into the life of his young family. He explained his protectiveness over his baby daughter North stems from the incident in New York where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter Suri was called "b**ch dog, a little brat kid" by a photographer.

He said, "My family is growing up. If you had a daughter, and you guys say crazy s**t to me all the time, and you say it to my family...I couldn't imagine my daughter being four years old and you guys screaming at her. I think somebody screamed at Tom Cruise's daughter or something like that."

Kanye West
Kanye Insists That The Fight Occurred Because He Was Upset Over His Grandfather's Illness.

"We're in this together; you guys help me influence, you help with the family, you help Kim's power and everything, so I'm not trying to f**king be at you guys in any type of negative way and I don't want you guys to be negative at me and I would prefer if we just had a decent relationship, you know?" Kanye added.

A performer who has never shied from the spotlight, Kanye has experienced a greater intensity of scrutiny since he began to date reality TV star Kim Kardashian who gave birth to their daughter. He is also in the middle of amending a feud with Jimmy Kimmel who aired a gag involving children acting out Kanye's now-notorious recent Radio 1 "rock star" interview.