Music icon Kanye West has tainted his future, and essentially buried his career, after making controversial and anti-Semitic remarks in recent weeks.
West announced his name change in 2018 on Twitter saying “I am Ye.” He explained the sudden name change, which doesn’t contain a middle or last name, in a radio interview that year.
“I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means you. So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us,” Ye said.
He added his name “went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye – just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confusion, everything.”
Ye is also the title of his 8th studio album.
But, Kanye, West, Ye or whatever you want to call him has certainly changed his image since the start of his career.
The Beginning
Kanye started off selling beats to local Chicago rappers and demonstrated his talents as a music producer. His talent shined.
After a move to New York City, and successfully producing a number of albums, he released his debut, The College Dropout in 2004. Needless to say, it was a hit. His choice of words, faith, clever language and political digs drew millions of listeners. He won a Grammy Award for best rap song in 2005, and has picked up numerous awards since.
Kanye put out an even stronger effort with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010 that reinvented the genre. On the album were Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Chris Rock, John Legend, Elton John and Fergie, among others. The album brought in 3 Grammys.
His 2013 album Yeezus was another major hit. Bound 2 was his most successful single, which featured now-ex-wife, then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian.
Kanye’s career was going so well— what snapped?
Kanye’s mother, Donda, passed away in 2007 at just 58 years old. She was his rock. Donda passed away after undergoing cosmetic surgery that resulted in post-op failures. Ever since, Kanye has blamed himself for his mother’s passing and he hasn’t been the same ever since.
In 2009, Kanye publicly humiliated Taylor Swift before her acceptance speech for best female video of the year and said that “Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time” at the infamous MTV Video Music Awards.
It went viral. And the Swifties attacked and antagonized him. But it didn’t break him.
In 2015, Malik Yusef, one of Kanye’s regular collaborators, tweeted about Kanye’s laptop being stolen. His song “Awesome” was leaked, and rumors had it that there were leaked sex videos between Kanye and Kim. On his song “Real Friends,” Kanye rapped that it was his cousin who stole his computer and he gave it back for $250,000— Kanye lost faith and trust in most people.
Kanye defended Bill Cosby, once-respected actor and now-convicted rapist, on Twitter in 2016 claiming Cosby was innocent. In his single “Facts” on The Life of Pablo, he raps: “Does anybody feel bad for Bill Cosby? / Did he forget names just like Steve Harvey?”
And then his bogus political side came out: always erring with the side of controversy.
The Middle
To stir the pot, Kanye said he voted for 2016 President-elect Donald Trump. He publicly criticized Hillary Clinton, and while it wasn’t necessarily wrong to oppose her, his political views put him in hot water that’s never stopped running.
The end of 2016 was especially rough for Kanye. Between Kim Kardashian being robbed at gunpoint in Paris, the New York Fashion Week controversies and the Saint Pablo tour, he was under an incredible amount of stress.
In November of 2016, Kanye was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center and was placed under involuntary psychiatric hold, meaning doctors believed he was a danger to him, others and/or disabled.
A source told E! News that Kanye had been working “around the clock on fashion design as well as touring.” His work kept him apart from his wife and children.
Just a few weeks ago, Kanye West was seen wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt with conservative icon Candace Owens. This goes against all of his political beliefs in his early albums— which caused outrage among his day one fans.
Also in recent weeks, Kanye’s anti-Semitic remarks were the final straw.
Kanye was interviewed by right-wing extremist and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes on InfoWars just last week. He was fully dressed in Balenciaga, the fashion company which recently underwent a child sexualization scandal. In his first appearance, Kanye repeatedly said the Holocaust — which killed 6 million Jews and 5 million others — did not happen, praising the world’s most evil dictator, Adolf Hitler, in the process.
Former gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, who was one of the few Jewish Republicans in Congress, condemned Kanye in a statement.
“Kanye West is a deranged antisemite. I want absolutely nothing to do with that lunatic. He’s totally bad news,” he told POLITICO.
Kanye took his hate to Twitter, and was promptly banned twice because of it.
He was restricted back in October after saying he would go “death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.”— after saying his partnerships would never drop him, his sponsorship collaborations with Adidas and GAP were immediately terminated.
And, after being reinstated on the app, his first tweet was “SHALOM :)”— it doesn’t get more insensitive than that.
The worst of it all, which permanently banned Kanye from the app, was when he tweeted a swastika, a symbol of complete and utter hate, inside the Star of David last week.
In response to the violent and hateful image, Elon Musk responded to the horrors.
“I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended,” Musk tweeted last week.
How can one still support Kanye after these horrific statements?
The End
Kanye West is a grown man who is capable of making his own decisions. The excuse that “he is mentally ill” should be thrown out the window, and insults those who are truly suffering from psychological issues. When you align yourself with pillars of hate, hate has consumed you beyond saving.
It’s pretty clear he doesn’t want the help. That’s on him.
Enough is enough. The excuses. The lies. All of it.
Will Kanye one day be able to stage a musical comeback? Maybe.
But, for now, he is an antisemite whose heart is full of hate.
