Kanye West
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Kanye West fans are putting their feet down after his incendiary Hitler comments.
Following Ye’s interview on Alex Jones’ InfoWars talk show on Thursday, fans have been flooding his dedicated Reddit page r/Kanye with posts showing their appreciation for the rapper’s adversary Taylor Swift instead, in addition to educational content about the Holocaust.
In a post to Ye’s subreddit, one of the users in the community shared a photo of Swift titled “This is now a Taylor Swift Subreddit. We had a good run fellas.” The post quickly went viral, amassing several awards on the social media platform and over 36,000 upvotes and nearly 1,000 comments, some of which referenced lines from the pop star’s hit singles “Bad Blood” and “Anti-Hero.” Others attempted to rewrite history by saying Swift wrote the rapper’s album Graduation and petitioned to “change the subreddit name to Kanye (Taylor’s Version).”
While there were Swift jokes aplenty in the subreddit, the now-former fans of the rapper made serious posts to clear up Ye’s misinformation and shared graphic details and imagery to highlight how awful Hitler’s actions were against Jewish people.
In Ye’s interview with Jones, he boldly claimed that he sees “good things about Hitler also. I love everyone, and Jewish people are not going to tell me, ‘You can love us and you can love what we’re doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we’re pushing with the pornography.’ But this guy that invented highways and invented the very microphone I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good and I’m done with that. I’m done with the classifications.”
Despite Jones’ visible discomfort at the comments throughout the interview, Ye doubled down, adding, “I don’t like the word ‘evil’ next to Nazis … I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.” The rapper reiterated that it’s “time to promote love” by declaring, “I do love Hitler. I do love the Zionists.”
In light of Ye’s comments, several celebrities have denounced the rapper via social media. His account was additionally suspended on Twitter after he shared a Star of David modified with a swastika to be the symbol for his 2024 presidential campaign.
Back in October, Kanye West was set to buy the right-wing friendly social network Parler after both his Twitter and Instagram accounts were suspended for antisemitic posts. However, Parler owner Parlement Techonologies announced on Thursday (Dec. 1) that the deal will no longer happen.
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Parlement Technologies and Ye “mutually” parted ways, according to a statement from the company received by TechCrunch. “This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community,” the statement read.
If the deal had gone through, Parler would have given Ye control of a social media platform and a whole outlet for his controversial opinions with no gatekeeper. “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” he previously said in a prepared statement in October.
“This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech,” Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer also said at the time of the now-canceled deal.
However, ever since Tesla CEO Elon Musk took over control of Twitter last month, Ye has been reinstated to the social media platform. “Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked,” West tweeted out to his nearly 32 million followers on Nov. 20. In another tweet he wrote, “Shalom.” In early November, he said he would be taking a “fast” from speaking, alcohol, sex and porn.
Kanye West sent the Internet into shock when he joined alt-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his InfoWars talk show on Thursday (Dec. 1), where he openly admitted that he loves Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
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“Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler. How about that one?” he told Jones, who was noticeably uncomfortable as he tried to tell Ye that he thinks “most Jews are great people.” Jones then told Ye that he has a “bit of a Hitler fetish going on,” to which the rapper replied, “It’s not a fetish. I just like information.”
“I don’t like the word ‘evil’ next to Nazis,” Ye later said, undeterred by Jones’ discomfort. “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.” Later in the interview, Ye reiterated that it’s “time to promote love” by ultimately declaring, “I do love Hitler. I do love the Zionists.”
Following his terrifying remarks, Twitter users expressed their concern and disdain for the comments across the platform — as it’s hardly the first time in recent months that Ye has spread antisemitic hate speech using his platform. Soon enough, “Kanye” was trending on Twitter across the country. See some of the reactions below.
To everyone who was refusing to accept that Kanye is spewing antisemitism and cozying up to white supremacists: the man done announced he likes HITLER. How you defending this one???? pic.twitter.com/scac7t2IqZ— Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) December 1, 2022
You know Kanye has reached a point of no return when he makes Alex Jones look normal.— anthony “light 1” fantano (@theneedledrop) December 1, 2022
Republicans have normalized hate so much in America that Kanye can wildly declare how much he loves Nazis and Hitler, and folks are like ¯_(ツ)_/¯.So disgusted right now.— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) December 1, 2022
People are gonna joke about Kanye. People are gonna blame his mental health. But the truth is that he’s normalizing Nazism for a whole lot of people. I know that word is overused but folks will be googling Hitler tonight. It’s so incredibly dangerous.— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@JoshuaPHilll) December 1, 2022
Kanye going on Alex Jones to say “I like Hitler” should really be mind-blowing, but in 2022 it’s just a Thursday.— Randy the Savage (@reannadilley) December 1, 2022
sadly the Kanye saga doesn’t have a good ending 😔— Erick Khan (@ErickKhan_) December 1, 2022
Christian music in 2022 showed off its welcoming aspect to diversity with multiple women leading the charts and offering many collaborations between Christian and gospel artists.
The Top Christian Artist of 2022 is Kanye West, who concurrently reigns as the top male artist of the year. It marks two years straight that West leads both categories. His Donda album is No. 1 on the year-end Top Christian Albums tally for a second year in a row.
The hip-hop superstar is also the Top Gospel Artist of 2022. West wins the day on the strength and longevity of his second faith-based album, Donda, which is No. 1 on the Top Gospel Albums recap for a second year running.
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Nov. 20, 2021 through Nov. 12, 2022. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.
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Let Us Recap: On the Billboard charts in September 2021 Donda debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 with 309,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. according to Luminate. It marked West’s 10th Billboard 200 leader. It simultaneously hit No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums charts.
Donda followed West’s first spiritual LP, 2019’s Jesus Is King, which was his ninth No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Donda has spent all of 2022 at Nos. 1 or 2 on Top Christian Albums.
Plus, the year’s rundown of the top tracks on the streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Christian Songs ranking includes two songs by West inside the top 5.
“Praise God,” which dominated the survey for seven weeks starting last December is at No. 2 and “Hurricane,” which ruled for 12 weeks beginning in September 2021 is the No. 4 title on the year-end list.
West was not absent from the weekly Christian charts in 2022. His featured role on DJ Khaled’s “Use This Gospel (Remix),” which also featured Eminem, arrived at the Hot Christian Songs apex in September, awarding West with his fifth leader and the first for Khaled and Eminem.
The top female Christian artist for 2022 is Katy Nichole, who records for the Franklin, Tenn.-based Centricity Music. Nichole is also Billboard’s Top New Christian artist.
The 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Mesa, Ariz. owns the No. 1 Hot Christian Songs title of the year with her launch single “In Jesus Name (God of Possible).” The song concurrently leads the Christian Airplay Songs year-end ranking. Nichole co-wrote “Name,” with Ethan Hulse, David Spencer and Jeff Pardo, the latter of whom also produced it solo.
“I’m blown away and so incredibly honored,” Nichole tells Billboard. “It is such a gift to be able to use music to bring the love of Jesus to so many. I’m beyond grateful for everything that God has done in this past year and for the impact of the songs and stories I’ve shared.”
Plus, Nichole is one of the first successful Christian artists to come from social media. She currently boasts over 450,000 TikTok followers and before she was signed to Centricity she first gained traction by posting videos on TikTok as well as Instagram.
“Name” led the weekly Hot Christian Songs chart for 20 weeks and Christian Airplay for nine frames. Her sophomore hit “God is In This Story” reigned the lists for three and two weeks respectively.
A full studio album from Nichole is expected in early 2023.
Meanwhile, for King & Country is crowned as Billboard’s top Christian duo/group of 2022. The sibling duo comprised of Luke and Joel Smallbone ranks second among all Christian acts.
“For God Is With Us,” which became the pair’s second of two No. 1s on Hot Christian Songs, is the No. 5 top song of the year. It led for one week on the Aug. 6 dated chart and for three frames on Christian Airplay beginning in July.
The pair’s first Hot Country Songs leader, “Relate” which dominated Hot Christian Songs for three weeks in February finishes as No. 11 on the year-end tally.
“Relate” also led Christian Airplay for three frames starting February 12.
In July “For God Is With Us” topped the survey for its first of three frames and gave the duo its 11th No. 1.
The act also extended its record streak to eight consecutive Christian Airplay leaders (encompassing songs in lead roles promoted as proper, non-holiday radio singles, unless seasonal songs contribute to that run).
The duo began its run of eight straight No. 1s on the Aug. 18 dated tally when “joy.” commenced a four-week domination.
Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of 2022 is Kanye West, who concurrently reigns as the top male artist of the year. West repeats, marking two years straight that he leads both categories.
The multi-genre superstar is simultaneously the Top Christian Artist of 2022. West reigns again mostly due to the staying power of his second faith-based album, Donda, which is No. 1 on the year-end Top Gospel Albums list.
Billboard’s year-end music recaps represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts dated Nov. 20, 2021 through Nov. 12, 2022. The rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the titles appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology details, and the November-November time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.
Explore All of Billboard’s 2022 Year-End Charts
On the Billboard charts dated Sept. 11, 2021, Donda started with a splash. It debuted in the penthouse on the all-genre weekly Billboard 200 plus Top Gospel Albums and Top Christian Albums with 309,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S., according to Luminate.
It marked West’s 10th Billboard 200 leader and his second No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums (as well as Top Christian Album).
Donda followed his first spiritual LP, Jesus is King, which crowned both lists as well as the Billboard 200. King started with 264,000 weekly units in November 2019, which was a record at the time on the two faith-based tallies.
On the weekly Top Gospel Albums chart, Donda has held the summit every week during 2022. Donda is second to only Jesus is King on the list for the longest reigning titles in the history of Top Gospel Albums which started in 1983. Both sets are north of 65 frames each.
As for the top albums of 2022 Donda is No. 1 while Jesus is King ranks at No. 5.
Plus, West holds the Nos. 1 and 2 positions of the year on the year-end streaming-, airplay and sales based Hot Gospel Songs tally with “Praise God” at No. 1 and “Hurricane” at No. 2.
The top female gospel artist of the year is CeCe Winans, who is No. 4 among all acts. Winans was also the leading woman of 2021.
Winans’ LP Believe For It: A Live Worship is No. 3 on the Top Gospel Albums’ year-end tally. The set entered at No. 1 in March 2021 becoming her ninth No. 1. It ruled for seven weeks and has spent all of 2022 in the top 10.
The LP’s title track is the No. 8 song of 2022 on Hot Gospel Songs.
“Believe” dominated the weekly version of the multi-metric ranking for 12 weeks beginning in June and led Gospel Airplay for two frames starting on Jan. 29.
Winans’ “Goodness of God,” is the No. 2 track of 2022 on Gospel Digital Song Sales. The song rang up 13 weeks atop the list after it reached the penthouse in February, giving Winans her third leader.
“Goodness” reached No. 6 on Hot Gospel Songs in October, her fifth top 10.
Billboard’s top duo/group of 2022 and No. 2 among all acts is the Atlanta-based worship collective Maverick City Music.
Old Church Basement, the collaborative project with popular Christian act Elevation Worship, ranks as the Top Gospel Albums No. 2 LP of 2022. Basement, which opened at No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums in May 2021 with 19,000 units, has been in the top 3 for the entirety of 2022.
Maverick City Music posts two of its songs inside the top 5 on Hot Gospel Songs’ top tracks of 2022: “Promises,” featuring Joe L. Barnes and Naomi Raine is at No. 3, and “Jireh,” a collaboration between Maverick City Music and Elevation Worship is the No. 4 title for 2022.
“Jireh” also crowns the year-end ranking on Gospel Digital Song Sales.
Gospel music’s top new act of 2022 is E. Dewey Smith, whose rookie single, “Your Presence Is a Gift,” topped Gospel Airplay on the survey dated April 30. It peaked at No. 18 on Hot Gospel Songs.
Smith is based in Macon, Ga., and serves as the senior pastor and teacher at The House of Hope church in Atlanta.
Smith also released the holiday-themed album Let Praises Ring which arrived and peaked at No. 7 on Top Gospel Albums last December.
D.L. Hughley is clapping back once again at Kanye West following the rapper’s attacks on his style via Instagram back in March. This time, the comedian came for Ye’s divorce settlement with Kim Kardashian that was released on Tuesday (Nov. 29).
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“When (your) life imitates (your) art… YIKES,” Hughley wrote on Instagram, captioning a screenshot news from the settlement that requires Ye to pay his ex-wife $200,000 a month in child support. He then took a page out of Ye’s own book, citing his “Gold Digger” lyrics, “If you ain’t no punk holla, ‘We want prenup’ / ‘We want prenup!’ yeah / It’s something that you need to have / ‘Cause when she leave yo’ a– she gone leave with half…” he wrote.
The settlement comes nearly early two years after Kardashian filed for divorce from West after six years of marriage in February 201. The former will get joint custody of their four children — North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm — plus “equal access” to them, according to the divorce settlement documents obtained by Billboard. In addition to the monthly child support, Ye is also responsible for 50% of the children’s educational, medical and security expenses.
Notably, there is a dispute involving their children, both parties agreed to participate in a proper mediation, per the documents. However, if one of them does not participate, the other is allow to make the decision by default. The two reportedly have an extensive prenuptial agreement, and dutifully kept their assets split during the marriage, limiting the complexity of the proceedings.
Nearly two years after Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West after six years of marriage, the former couple’s divorce was finalized on Tuesday (Nov. 29), Billboard can confirm.
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Kardashian and West will get joint custody of their four children, plus “equal access” to them, according to TMZ. Additionally, Ye will pay the SKIMS founder $200,000 a month in child support, and is responsible for 50% of the children’s educational and security expenses.
If there is a dispute involving their children, both parties agreed to participate in mediation, per TMZ. However, if one of them does not participate, the other makes the decision by default. The two reportedly have an extensive prenuptial agreement, and dutifully kept their assets split during the marriage, limiting the complexity of the proceedings.
Upon the divorce filing in 2021, both sides initially said that the split would be amicable, but the relationship between the two superstars has turned increasingly tumultuous.
Throughout 2022, Ye had been sharing his disapproval over Kardashian’s parenting decisions, including allowing nine-year-old North to have a TikTok account. He also alleged that Kardashian did not invite the rapper to attend their younger daughter Chicago’s birthday party.
In February 2022, Kardashian responded to Kanye’s in a lengthy all-text Instagram Stories. “Kanye’s constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create,” she began her message, noting she’s the main provider and caregiver for their kids. “I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision – because it brings her happiness. Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all.”
In March 2022, Kardashian was declared legally single.
Pusha T is speaking out on Kanye West‘s string of antisemitic remarks over the past month.
“It’s definitely affected me. It’s been disappointing. As a Black man in America, there is no room for bigotry or hate speech. So yeah. It’s been very disappointing,” Pusha, who recently worked with Ye on his It’s Almost Dry album, said in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times.
However, the rapper still has musical respect for his collaborator. “Creatively, Ye has meant freedom to me,” he said. “A lot of times, people would try to get me to change certain things about my process, change certain things about me lyrically, change certain things about the content. He never has been like that. He always saw me for who I was and knew how to take it to the next level.”
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Pusha continued, “We actually have a lot of the same taste, we love just barred-out rap. He would tell me things like, ‘Man, you just be the extreme version of yourself. And I’m gonna be the extreme version of myself.’”
Ye took to Twitter in October to use antisemitic rhetoric in his posts, then continued to amplify his hate speech in interviews. The reaction from the public was swift, with several companies — including The Gap, Balenciaga, and more — terminating their relationships and brand deals with the rapper.
Forbes has also reported that Ye has lost his billionaire status after Adidas announced on Oct. 25 that it was dropping his due deal, and that the brand does not tolerate hate speech.
After unsuccessfully running for president in 2020, Kanye West is giving it another go in 2024.
The rapper confirmed his upcoming campaign to paparazzi over the weekend, according to Consequence of Sound. “Yes… It’s simple…. It’s just we’re moving toward the future,” he said when asked if he’s running.
Additionally, Ye revealed that alt-right political figure Milo Yiannopoulos “is working on the campaign.” Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart senior editor, most recently worked as an intern for Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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West and Yiannopoulos have yet to post on their social medias about their political relationship.
On July 4, 2020, the rapper announced the launch of his long-shot presidential campaign under the “Birthday Party” banner. After registering for the party late, making only one major campaign appearance to go with two last-minute video ads, he only got on the ballot in 12 states — leading to only 70,000 votes total.
It’s been a particularly controversial year for West, full of antisemitic rants, violent rhetoric against Kim Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson, and promoting a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt while premiering his Yeezy line at Paris Fashion Week.
Ye also threw repeated racial slurs at Daily Show host Trevor Noah, criticized comedian D.L. Hughley’s style and slammed Kid Cudi for being friends with Davidson. The posts have all since been deleted.
As the music industry and realms beyond denounce antisemitic statements made by Kanye West, A-Trak has entered the conversation via a Twitter thread regarding the origins and dangers of antisemitism.
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In the thread posted Sunday, the producer spoke to his own experience as a “very moderate Jew,” noting that “as someone who supports the Palestinian cause and doesn’t agree with the vast majority of Israel’s actions, it would take a lot for me to call sh– out.” He later writes of the “sorrow” of recent “antisemitic sentiments that have been regurgitated by prominent people in the Black community.”
While A-Trak (born Alain Maklovitch) does not call out West by name, he does have a significant history with the rapper. In 2004, A-Trak became West’s first tour DJ, with the pair working together for years in the early ’00s and A-Trak even introducing West to Daft Punk, the French icons West famously sampled on the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Stronger” from his 2007 LP Graduation.
“The last few weeks have made me reflect a lot,” A-Trak writes. “I think there’s something about growing up in the relative calm of the 90s that made me turn my attention / sympathy towards the plight of other people, other minorities. Maybe I assumed people knew what Jews have gone through.
“But a lot of current events are extremely alarming and hurtful, and need to be acknowledged as such. The conspiratorial nature of antisemitism creates a climate of distrust and blame that escalates very quickly. There are patterns that can’t be ignored.
“Saying that Jews control ANYTHING — the media, finance, whatever — is antisemitism, it’s hate speech, straight up. Because it perpetuates these old conspiracies and myths and feeds distrust and hate. This can’t be downplayed.”
The statement continues: “What has compounded the pain lately is that some of these antisemitic sentiments have been regurgitated by prominent people in the Black community,” the post continues. “Speaking for myself, as a DJ who plays Hip Hop and House music — Black music, with love — this has brought a deep sorrow.
“But I wholeheartedly understand the need for some Black Americans, who were robbed of their history AND whom the education system failed, to dig into the past, to explore, to search for answers. We just need certain things to be accepted as bogus, as wrong.
“What we DON’T need — and I don’t want to get into any specific people or examples here — is for disciplinary action to be taken too far, into humiliation. That just perpetuates the distrust and America’s systemic problems.
“What I’m seeing is: Jews are hurting, re-living old trauma and getting more and more fearful. Black people are hurting, feeling chastised and dehumanized. And white supremacists are chilling, enjoying the show. That’s not ok.
“We shouldn’t even be looking at celebrities for any of this. What we should be doing is teaching each other about our histories and understanding each other. Love to my Jewish brothers & sisters, my Palestinian brothers & sisters, my Black brothers & sisters. We need to heal.”
Read the complete statement below in the thread below.
A-Trak’s reflections come as many in the music industry and beyond also speak out to denounce antisemitic hate speech in the wake of West’s racist and antisemitic actions and statements, which have since led to myriad consequences for West. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony this past Saturday, John Mellencamp stated: “I cannot tell you how f—ing important it is to speak out if you’re an artist against antisemitism.”
I certainly didn’t expect the year 2022 to bring a rise in antisemitism. But here we are. I’m going to attempt to touch on a few points, as painful as it is… because I think we need a dialogue, and there’s a lot of things about antisemitism that are still misunderstood. 🧵— Nappin 4Tay (@atrak) November 7, 2022