Kanye West Snatches TMZ Photog's Phone Over Question About Bianca

Kanye West was NOT in a chatty mood to kick off the week -- especially when one of our photogs asked him about Bianca Censori ... which ended with a confiscation and a lecture.

Our camera person was one of several people trailing Ye Monday as he made his way over to Hollywood Blvd. for Charlie Wilson's Walk of Fame ceremony -- and she asked him about several reports claiming he's "controlling" his wife and/or banning her from social media.

We'll admit ... it's not the most subtle opening question, and perhaps unartfully phrased ... as we asked if Bianca had "free will." That immediately set Kanye off, he snatched her phone and started verbally dressing her down.

What follows is a good 3-plus minutes of Ye berating our photog and grilling her about her question -- which he seems to have thought was totally off-limits and wildly disrespectful.

Poor wording aside ... Bianca's perceived freedom in her marriage has been a much-reported topic, so it's a fair question.

Still, it's clearly one that triggers Kanye, and as you can hear from this tirade, he thinks it's disrespectful to raise the issue "to come ask a grown-ass super-hero!!!"

Yep, it was that kinda lecture ... and there's no doubt Ye went over the top to make his point here.

He does end by offering our photog a job at twice the pay! Far as we know, she has not accepted. 😅