Kanye West
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When Nico Baran was 10, he discovered the popular digital audio workstation FL Studio during a class presentation and started making dance tracks. “That helped me build up my skills for making loops,” says Baran, who soon transitioned to R&B and trap productions.
Seven years later, in 2020, the Houston-born, Madrid-based producer started DM’ing loops to members of the producer collective and record label Internet Money. One member, oktanner, played the beats for CEO Taz Taylor, who brought Baran onto the team that year. Taylor asked Baran to send him ideas ahead of his session with The Kid LAROI, which led to Baran scoring his first major placement on LAROI’s debut mixtape, F*ck Love, co-writing and co-producing “Tragic” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
He has since compiled a genre-spanning résumé — and an impressive original loop library, which he often shares as sounds on TikTok — producing songs for rappers like Lil Tecca, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Shy Glizzy, as well as Latin artists like Bad Bunny with Young Miko, Eladio Carrión and Fuerza Regida. In June, when Baran posted a now-viral snippet titled “Love Is Gone” — a moody instrumental that has since amassed 1.8 million TikTok plays and 4.3 million official on-demand global streams, according to Luminate — Drake caught wind of the hype. “He reached out to me through Instagram,” Baran says. “I’m still sending him stuff to this day.”
Trending on Billboard
Wallace Joseph, SVP of A&R at Warner Chappell Music, calls the producer a “genius,” saying his talent is “purely natural. What he’s doing is next level; whether he’s playing keyboards, producing, or anything else, everything he touches goes viral.”
Ahead, Baran is hoping to make time for his own music as well, saying he “definitely” wants to release an album of his own — “kind of like Metro Boomin and DJ Khaled,” he says, “where I can bring artists into my own sound.”
¥$ (with Lil Wayne), “Lifestyle”
Last November, Baran wrote, “POV: Ty Dolla $ign & Kanye need beats for their next album,” over a TikTok featuring one of his loops. In December, when Ye previewed “Lifestyle” during an Instagram Live filmed at a private Las Vegas party teasing Vultures 2 (despite Vultures 1 not having dropped), Baran noticed a familiar beat: The song sampled “Love Is Gone.” As Baran recalls, “People were sending me screen recordings through Instagram like, ‘Kanye sampled you!’ ” One of the song’s producers, Australian duo FNZ, had sent Ty “Love Is Gone.” Baran says, “He liked it a lot. He showed it to Kanye, and Kanye loved it. It still feels unbelievable.”
Ice Spice & Central Cee, “Did It First”
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In 2023, songwriter-producer Lily Kaplan sent Baran a Dropbox link and asked him to tinker with her vocal tracks. He built a loop around one of them by chopping up the line “Baby, do you understand?” and adding synths before sending it to RIOTUSA, Ice Spice’s go-to producer. RIOT ultimately used it for Ice and Central Cee’s “Did It First,” one of the buzzier singles from her debut album, Y2K!, that dropped in July. “Ice Spice really loved that one loop, and it kind of went crazy,” says Baran of the track, which hit No. 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
The Kid LAROI, TBA
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Four years after “Tragic,” one of LAROI’s producers reached out to Baran about sampling a loop that he had posted on TikTok to use on a track from the Australian artist’s forthcoming second album. (His debut, The First Time, arrived last November.) “That’s mainly what I’m focusing on right now,” Baran reveals. “I’m sending a lot of ideas to LAROI’s producers. Aside from that one song, hopefully more [will] come about.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the August 31, 2024 issue of Billboard.
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Source: Brad Barket / Getty
There are more shake up’s at YZY headquarters. Kanye West has reportedly fired longtime footwear designer Steven Smith.
As reported by Nice Kicks the rapper has reportedly asked the veteran creative to exit from his company DONDA. This week Fast Magazine caught up with Smith and confirmed the rumors about his exit back in August. While Steve has historically been supportive of West throughout all of his ups and downs it seems his patience for YE has run out. “He’s lost his mind,” he said in an exclusive statement to the magazine. “The whole of Yeezy is circling the drain and this is just part of it. He has surrounded himself with toxic, C-grade losers.”
While Smith did not touch on any of the recent Kanye happenings including wanting to launch his own adult content channel or is possibly addicted to nitrous oxide he did make it clear he is excited about his next chapter. “I’m in a very happy place with it all,” Smith reveals. “I will certainly be a priceless asset to whoever I work with next. It’s all his loss and the result of his foolishness.”
Steven Smith is a pioneer in the sneaker industry for his work on several iconic releases including the Reebok Instapump Fury, the New Balance 574 and the Yeezy Boost 700. YE has yet to publicly comment on the matter. Back in May Milo Yiannopoulos resigned as Chief of Staff for YZY.
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Source: Matthias Nareyek / Getty
Now that Drake has become arguably one of the most ostracized men in the Hip-Hop game (he can thank Kendrick Lamar for that), he seems to have found an unlikely ally in another rap star-turned-social pariah, Kanye West, respectfully.
Over the weekend, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign were out in South Korea rocking the crowd at the Goyang Stadium in Seoul when Ye decided to dedicate one of his performances to Drake. As “I Wonder” came on the loudspeakers Yeezy said, “This one for Drake.” Having been engaged in a weird feud with the King of the North for the past few years, we can only wonder if Kanye is extending an olive branch to the embattled Canadian crooner, or if this is somehow another subliminal that only he and Kanye can understand.
You never know with these guys.
On the other hand, Kanye did take the time to remind everyone that he’s still not happy with how his relationship with adidas turned out and led the crowd in a “F*ck Adidas!” chant as their termination of Yeezy led to Kanye going from a billionaire to a millionaire overnight.
For a country who’s main language is Korean, they really knew how to say “F*ck adidas” very well. Just sayin’.
While we know adidas won’t respond to any Kanye slander anytime soon, we do wonder if Drake will be reaching out to Kanye (or vice versa) following this latest turn of events. Will Drake and Kanye be reuniting at some point in the near future? Is Kanye trying to officially bury the hatchet with his sometimes rival? Does Drake even care to repair his relationship with Kanye at this point?
We don’t know, but best believe the whole Hip-Hop world is watching and interested to see how this ultimately plays out.
We’re sure adidas couldn’t care less though.
What do y’all think Kanye’s angle is in his shouting out of Drake? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Matthias Nareyek / Getty
It seems Kanye West has one less legal issue to worry about. The rapper is no longer liable in a lawsuit over a Boogie Down Productions sample.
As spotted on Digital Music News, Kanye has apparently come to an agreement over his song “Life Of The Party.” The track, which was recorded for the original version of Donda but saw daylight on the deluxe version, featured what seemed to be elements from Boogie Down Productions’ classic single “South Bronx.” Back in 2022, Phase One Network claimed that “Life Of The Party” featured an “exact reproduction” of horn parts, drums and a melody from BDP’s 1987 anthem. “This appears to be an ongoing practice of Mr. West, using other people’s music without paying for it,” Phase One’s attorney Gary Adelman of Adelman Matz said at the time. “Using music without permission violates the copyright law and hurts artists.”
In June, Kanye West’s legal team requested the artist be removed from the lawsuit citing that Ye was “creating the track and experimenting with it, with the intent to contact the license holder for approval as evidence by such act, is undoubtedly fair use.” On Monday, Aug. 19, Reuters reported that Kanye West and Phase One Network had agreed to dismiss him from the filing but will still pursue Kano Computing, the maker of the Stem Player.
You can listen to “Life Of The Party” below.
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Source: @ali.aam.06 / TikTok
In case you were wondering, Kanye West is still Team Donald Trump. Ye and his wife Bianca Censori were spotted hitting up a Trump rally in Beverly Hills on Saturday (August 17).
Reportedly, the couple who has never seen a camera they won’t pose for pulled in a Tesla Cybertruck (probably a promo gift from Phony Stark, allegedly).
Reports TMZ:
Ye and Bianca rolled up Saturday in Bev Hills, where supporters of the former president were waving American flags and “Make America Great Again” banners. They just stopped on the side of the road, but that was enough to fire up the crowd.
Check out the video … a group swarms the Tesla, not realizing at first it’s Kanye behind the wheel, but when they spot him, they go nuts and start chanting his name!
Ye loves the attention. Democracy, not so much—just saying.
Bianca on the other hand, didn’t seem too enthused to be there.
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Taylor Swift and Ye, also known as Kanye West, will probably never end up being friends after the producer crashed the singer’s big moment at the 2009 MTV VMAs. If recent chatter is true, Taylor Swift changed her track “thanK you aIMee, with the letters, K, I, and M capitalized as a rumored shot at Kim Kardashian but now the song is titled “thank You aimEe,” capitalizing the letters Y and E.
Via the X Taylor Swift fan account @chartstswift, the song title change was highlighted. The song appears on Swift’s eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and was assumed by fans and observers to be a dig at Kardashian. Ye and Kardashian reportedly recorded a phone call with Swift and altered the audio to make it appear that the singer agreed to a line Ye uttered on the track “Famous” from his The Life of Pablo album. Kardashian posted the audio to her social media channels, and it’s been up ever since for Swift apparently.
Of course, Swift hasn’t confirmed the rumors but that hasn’t stopped the Swifties from piecing together their theories, and considering how the beef started, who could blame them?
If you wanted to check out Taylor Swift’s “thank You aimEe” for yourself, it appears the track was initially being sold as a live song version but is no longer being sold on her website.
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Photo: Kevin Winter/MTV1415 / Getty
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Source: Kent Nishimura / Getty / Kanye West / Sunday Service
This is more bad news for Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and Jesus won’t be able to save him.
Spotted on the U.S. Sun, Kanye West’s Sunday Service has been stripped of its charity status because the troubled rapper failed to file his tax returns with Uncle Sam, aka the IRS.
According to the publication, the popular choir gained its charity status on December 12, 2021.
West introduced the choir to the masses in January 2019 through invite-only musical events that also served as “inspirational” promotional concerts for his gospel album “Jesus Is King.”
The group, led by choir director Jason White, became a hit with fans and eventually performed at one of the biggest music festivals in the world, Coachella, as well as at the Hollywood Bowl and other events.
Speaking with Nick Cannon, the often boastful West claimed he spent $50 million on Sunday Service in his first year.
“I spent every dime that I have for marketing from Yeezy on Sunday Service. Every dollar I had,” Ye claimed.
He continued, “I spent $50 million last year on Sunday Service if you add up the operas if you add up the flights. It was 120 people going to Jamaica.”
“The Yeezys, they were selling themselves. So, instead of paying for ads, I invested it in the church. I invested in spreading [the] gospel. I invested in saying Jesus’ name on high.”
West’s involvement with the choir would become nonexistent in recent months, with the IRS sharing the bad news about the choir on its website.
Per The U.S. Sun:
But it appears he’s had little to do with the choir in recent months, and a revocation date on the IRS website is listed as May 15, 2024, confirming it has lost its charity status.
It was posted for the first time on August 12, showing it is still current.
Welp.
Kanye West has been in the news lately, but not for anything good. Whether it’s because he dresses his wife, Bianca Censori, in what he thinks are clothes or the numerous lawsuits, like the most recent one for his unauthorized use of some photos featuring him and Censori.
If there is any good news about Mr. West, his new album featuring Ty Dolla $ign is out. We don’t know how long it will be available because he can pull it at any moment.
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Source: Peter White / Getty / Kanye West / Bianca Censori
Kanye West is learning the hard way about posting photos of himself he doesn’t own.
Spotted on XXL, the Chicago rapper is being sued for posting photos of himself and his wife/mannequin, Bianca Censori, without permission from BackGrid USA, Inc. and Backgrid London.
Per XXL:
Documents obtained by XXL show that on Aug. 8, BackGrid USA, Inc. and Backgrid London Ltd filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ye. They allege that the Yeezy mogul used photographs on his Instagram account without the company’s permission. One of the photos in question shows West in all black while Censori walks next to him in a sheer, nude outfit while holding a purple pillow. Another pic features West and Censori at Milan’s Nuova Arena Restaurant back in February, and a third features Censori going on a shopping spree with Ye at the Balenciaga store.
According to the website, the rapper, now known as Ye, violated federal copyright law by using 10 photos without permission on his website and social accounts.
Cam’ron Also Was Sued For A Similar Situation
If this incident sounds familiar, that’s because something similar happened to Dipset co-founder and It Is What It Is host Cam’ron.
Killa Cam was ordered to pay a photographer $50,000 for his unauthorized use of a photograph. The photo in question was the iconic photo of Cam rocking a pink fur coat and headband while using a pink flip phone.
The photo’s owner, Djamilla Cochran, sued Cam’ron and his company, Dipset Couture, in April 2023 for using the photo on merchandise without permission.
In that case, the judge ruled, “The court finds that a statutory damages award of seven times the licensing fee is sufficient to compensate the plaintiff for the infringement of her copyright and to deter future infringements by punishing the defendants.”
We won’t be shocked if Ye suffers the same fate.
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Source: Matthias Nareyek / Getty
The Kanye West story continues to get even more bizarre. His ex business manager claims a dentist got the MC hooked on laughing gas.
As reported by Page Six YE’s former chief of staff made some very interesting allegations about one of his doctors. On Wednesday, August 7, Milo Yiannopoulos (yeah, that same Milo Yiannopoulos) claimed a dentist has gotten the Chicago, Illinois native hooked on nitrous oxide; a odorless, colorless, non-flammable gas that when inhaled will cause a state of euphoria. He detailed his theory over a series of post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “There is a reason Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is no longer capable of successfully releasing music or clothing. In fact, there are several reasons. But the most serious and the most recent is his dentist, Thomas Connelly.” he wrote.
“Connelly got Ye hooked on nitrous—laughing gas. It is my belief that Connelly sought to diminish Ye’s mental faculties so that Connelly and his business associates could extract millions of dollars from him.” he added. “Earlier this year, I uncovered the fraud and intervened. Ye, hooked on nitrous, blew up our relationship on purpose by proposing something he knew I’d have to resign over (because I had told him so): the resurrection of his longtime idle fantasy of making porn.” Milo also proclaims Kanye isn’t the only rapper who is victim of Connelly’s crooked ways. “Thomas Connelly is a dangerous predator who targets African-American celebrities—into whose mouth he puts fake diamonds, as I suspect he did to @lilyachty He must be stopped.”
Yiannopoulos went on to share a sworn affidavit of his time while overseeing the YEEZY empire. His account includes him finding “dozens of fraudulent schemes, audacious greed, double billing, duplication of labor, entirely unnecessary employees collecting seven-figure salaries and all manner of other senseless wastes of money.” Additionally, he lays out that Connelly charges Kanye about $50,000 a month for the laughing gas. A representative for the dentist tells TMZ that Milo’s claims are “not only factually incorrect but also intentionally misleading.”
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Source: Christopher Polk / Getty
It’s been years since Kanye West decided to rail against the Jewish community with his infamous tweets about going “Death con 3” after a nap. While he hasn’t necessarily let up on his antisemitic views, now it seems like he’s going the Jamie Foxx route and blaming it on the al-al-al-al-al-alcohol.
In a newly surfaced interview with MAGA supporter Candace Owens from 2022, Kanye West touched on the subject of his antisemitic tweets and revealed he was off that Henrock when he decided to take shots at an entire community. The subject came up when the two began talking about the meaning behind the word “alcohol,” which they said meant that it “kills your spirit and allows demons to come in.”
That’s when Kanye revealed that he was drunk when he sent the hateful tweet saying, “I definitely was drinking when I put up the death con tweet. You know whose, I wanna say alcohol I had inside me? Hennessy. Hennessy. It turns us gray. Literally, the demons [just come in].”
When asked by Candace why he didn’t just state that he was drunk when he tweeted his billionaire status away, Kanye simply said he didn’t want to “discredit” what he felt was “the fact of what I saying.”
Yeah, that didn’t help his antisemitic case much.
Though Kanye has since apologized to the Jewish community for his mean-spirited words, many felt it was too little too late or just plain insincere as his rhetoric in general has been MAGA-ish in nature.
Since then, every company or brand he was in business has cut ties with him including adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, and many others.
If he’ll ever be back in a position where he’s collaborating with other brands or companies remains to be seen, but with the way he’s been living his life out in public as of late, we don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Check out the interview below, and let us know your thoughts on the situation in the comments section.