Kanye West
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“Carnival” is Ye’s (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) first No. 1 single since being featured on Katy Perry’s “E.T.” (his first as a lead artist since 2007) and it seems like he’s back on top. Musically, at least.
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“Rich, Ty, Carti and the supporters that stood by us through everything, this No. 1 is for you. It’s for the people who won’t be manipulated by the system and f*ck adidas and everybody who works there or with them. Anyone who goes to school with anyone whose parents work at adidas, just know they tried to destroy me and here we are with the No. 1 song in the world,” he posted in a since-deleted statement on his Instagram account this week.
If you thought Ye wasn’t going to be cocky after earning his first No. 1 in 13 years, you thought wrong. He clearly feels that him sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 is a huge deal. And to be fair, it is. At 46 years old he’s the oldest rapper to achieve this feat — and doing so after some of the most tumultuous years of his career makes this achievement even more unbelievable.
Trending on Billboard
But the question on everyone’s mind right now is: how long will this last?
Kanye West disses Drake, Adidas, Hailey Bieber, Daily Mail and others in an Instagram post promoting his new music video for “Carnival.”“And it’s f**k Drake for taking Durk right at the beginning of the Vultures role out.” pic.twitter.com/FKjViPbvO5— XXL Magazine (@XXL) March 12, 2024
We’ve seen this movie before. Granted, this time it’s been both amplified and accelerated, but the general idea remains the same. Ye does something to infuriate a large group of people which puts his career in peril. When the peril seems all too real, he shows contrition either through an apology or through a piece of art that tries to explain why he did the thing that infuriated all those people in the first place. And eventually, after some passage of time, he winds up back in everyone’s good graces. Most people think of him on stage at the VMAs and the subsequent release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as the precedent of this cycle.
That was all a long time ago, though. His legacy has taken a major hit over the years as his erratic and, at times, offensive behavior has overshadowed his art. Back in 2016, things got shaky for Ye when some of his Saint Pablo Tour performances were derailed by rantings and ravings. This was blamed on exhaustion and dehydration and led to him being hospitalized and forced to cancel the remaining legs of the tour. That same year he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and pledged his allegiance to Former President Donald Trump. Ye then became a born-again Christian and started to share some of his religious beliefs, like his pro life view on abortion.
Then came his very public divorce from Kim Kardashian and his run of antisemitic remarks that resulted in adidas dissolving their groundbreaking partnership and other companies like JP Morgan Chase severing ties with the artist. Amid all of this, the music he was releasing wasn’t getting the critical acclaim his earlier work received. Ye, Jesus Is King, Donda 1 & 2, and Kids See Ghosts all got mixed reviews. The combination of his controversial opinions and the stream of mid music resulted in fans starting to completely tune him out. History has proven that hit records can fix a lot. But smashes can only do so much—they ain’t magic wands.
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It’s clear Ye has amassed a new legion of fans who are more tolerant of his antics off the field; ones who are able to excuse his bigotry and abrasiveness. But his older fans (I’m one of them) have been mostly turned off by his shenanigans in recent years and it’s going to take a lot more than a hot song to win us back. When I first ran through Vultures 1, “Carnival” didn’t immediately jump out to me as a song that had the potential of becoming a hit record. I thought “Paid” and “Vultures” were the “ones” off this album, and even then I didn’t believe either of them would hit the top of the charts. However, in hindsight, I underestimated “Carnival’s” anthem potential and the power of a #veryrare Playboi Carti feature.
Now, that said, even with “Carnival” going number one, I have to say that on a scale of 1 to 10, I’m at around a five when it comes to Ye continuing this run of success. I’m just not sure he’s into traditional success anymore. He seems to love the drama more than the music these days.
Just look at what’s happening with this Julieanna Goddard debacle. Instead of people talking about his first No. 1 in over a decade, people are talking about a controversy involving members of his Yeezy team. On Tuesday, Ye publicly distanced himself from the Miami-based marketer better known as YesJulz, posting an Instagram Story that read, “We have decided to no longer have YesJulz involved in the role out of Vultures. All the activity on her page and with our fans in the past few days has been unauthorized.” Then an email floated around—allegedly from Chief of Staff Milo Yiannopoulos, yes the far right commentator who managed Ye’s presidential campaign—saying she had been fired and will be fined $7.7 million for violating her NDA, even though she didn’t sign her contract. I’m no legal expert, but I don’t think you can violate a contract you never signed. YesJulz then went on the offensive and shared several screenshots and emails from Yiannopoulos which contained disparaging remarks about Ye’s fanbase. And, frankly, It’s all a sh*tshow.
Heres what Milo, the Chief of Staff who controls who gets hired + fired & when they get paid, thinks about the very fan base that fought so hard to get Ye his first #1 in over a decade pic.twitter.com/N0FEZTny1k— Yesjulz (@YesJulz) March 14, 2024
We should be talking about Ye’s return to form, instead we’re trying to piece together why Milo Yiannopoulos is back on his team and if the original email is even legit or not. Ye eventually deleted his posts about YesJulz, but the damage has already been done. No one knows what’s really going on over there, but one thing is for sure: Ye is addicted to drama. How long before he makes more disparaging remarks about people he perceives to be against him? If his celebratory Instagram caption is any indication, it won’t be long at all. If he’s not able to get his house in order and focus on the art, his first No. 1 in nearly a decade and a half will mean nothing and he will only have himself to blame.
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Source: Jonathan Leibson / Getty
adidas announced that they would be donating millions of dollars from the sales of their remaining Yeezy shoes to anti-hate groups.
On Wednesday (March 13), the German sportswear giant adidas announced that they were planning to, and in some cases, already donated $150 million to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate from the sales of their remaining stock of Yeezy shoes. The company had an estimated $1.3 billion worth of sneakers created from its partnership with Ye aka Kanye West in their warehouses.
The company began to sell its remaining stock in batches after severing ties with West in October 2022 after his tirade of antisemitic and other hateful comments on social media and in interviews. After the dissolution, adidas sold off Yeezy shoes in two batch releases in 2023 and launched another release sale on Feb. 26 of this year. Part of the proceeds that have been donated have gone to such groups as the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd (who was the subject of one of Kanye West’s rants) as well as the Anti-Defamation League.
adidas reported that the sales helped stabilize their operating profits at $283 million last year – it still wound up leaving the company facing a deficit of 60% in comparison to 2022. “Although by far not good enough, 2023 ended better than what I had expected at the beginning of the year,” said adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, the former footballer who took over the position at the beginning of 2023 and advocated for the move to sell the Yeezys and donate part of the proceeds. The company expects to improve about 10% in growth over the second half of 2024 with more emphasis on other shoes and a boost from the Olympic Games this summer in Paris, according to its earnings report.
Ye isn’t too happy with adidas’ sales of his Yeezys. As the new batch release sale began in February with the “Steel Grey” 350 V2 version, he voiced his displeasure in the caption of a now-deleted Instagram post. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys I never made these color ways I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me,” he wrote, adding: “All the new non-approved 350’s are cooorny and everybody know the 350 been corny.”
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YesJulz is currently embroiled in a public back-and-forth with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after being fired by the Chicago producer for reportedly violating an NDA agreement. YesJulz took to social media to share her side of the story along with sharing messages between her and YZY Chief of Staff Milo Yiannopoulos.
YesJulz, real name Julieanna Goddard, took to Twitter to share the story from her side after Ye announced her firing via Instagram with a post reading, “We have decided to no longer have YesJulz involved in the roll out of Vultures. All the activity on her page and with our fans in the past few days has been unauthorized.”
Adding to this, an email from Yiannopoulos announcing the firing and the issuance of a $7.7 million fine leaked to X, formerly Twitter, which sparked a flurry of comments from the popular influencer.
All of this seemingly stemmed from a Twitter Spaces chat Ms. Goddard held with fans of Ye and threw out some ideas that would operate under the YZY banner and further the brand’s reach. It appeared to be received well but things have changed in the days since the chat.
In a tweet responding to a tweet calling her firing unjust but also understandable considering the man behind the intellectual property, YesJulz made the first of many defenses of her actions.
From X:
Ye is up against the system
Having the discussion with fans
in an open forum setting was unconventional,
but it allowed for inclusivity
& open visibility
for an entire fan base to opt in,
give feedback, be heard, connect with one another to combine efforts
Which is what i feel is needed
For Ye to stay on top for these next two runs.
I was also given specific direction
to “rally” the fans, let them each lead their own chapters, activate within their locations- etc.
This was MY way of doing so.
I am not a conventional woman
& this is why i worked at the company i worked at in the first place.
I never wanted work done for free
I wanted to help the fans present
their work to Ye
So that he could hire them
Instead of stale ass losers who dont know the slightest thing about culture
like Ben Priest & Milo Pedofilist
To build his company for him
Anyone who has ever been in contact with me for as little as 5 minutes knows
The last thing id ever need to steal,
Is an idea.
I’d actually pay to have less as the amount of ideas i have overwhelm me daily.
Refer to my February tweets about hiring fans
Listen to the space.
Its very clear who i am
and what i stand for.
Goddard then went on a leaking spree, sharing internal messages from Yiannopoulos, who had some unsavory things to say. Check out the string of messages in the tweet below.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: WWD / Getty / Kim Kardashian
Word on the street is Kim Kardashian is not a fan of her ex-husband’s new nude model/mannequin/wife, Bianca Censori, but that didn’t stop her from standing side-by-side in support of the artist formerly known as Kanye West while she continues to assault us with dated music.
Spotted on TMZ, the internet was stunned when videos hit X, formerly Twitter timelines, showing Kardashian and Censori within arms’ reach of each other, even hugging at Ye’s latest “listening party” for his album Vultures II.
Despite the hug, which blew the minds of Ye’s loyal fans, the celebrity gossip site reports things are not all good between the two women.
Per TMZ:
Check it out … Kim was standing with Bianca behind a police barrier, grooving and mouthing the words to a song from Kanye’s newest studio album “Vultures 2.”
Amazingly, they seemed chill and comfortable in each other’s presence at the Chase Center in San Francisco. But one thing was obvious — the women were not best buds or getting chatty with one another, at least in the footage posted on social media.
According to Yahoo! Entertainment, Kardashian is reportedly not a fan of Censori’s fashion style and her being around her children practically butt-ass naked.
“Kim instructed Kanye to never let Bianca dress like that around their kids,” a source said according to Yahoo! “She is truly surprised that Kanye would let his wife leave the house like that.”
She should also take that up with Ye since we all know he is his wife’s stylist.
Speaking of West, he is celebrating his latest single, “Carnival,” going number 1 by dissing adidas and Drake.
So much for the short-lived goodwill between the rappers.
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Drake has been proclaimed the “Petty King” and even called himself such in a recent song, so it was assumed that Ye, formerly Kanye West dissing him would garner a response. Via his Instagram Story feed, Drake seemed to respond to Ye’s deleted Instagram rant via a popular 50 Cent meme.
Ye posted then deleted a fiery Instagram post dissing the likes of Adidas, Daily Mail, and others he deemed to have wronged him. The post was in support of his track “Carnival” from the Vultures 1 project hitting the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart but soon turned into him unleashing a series of disses of which Drizzy was a target.
In the rant, Ye seemed miffed that Drake added Lil Durk to his upcoming tour with J. Cole just as Ye’s team was rolling out the Vultures project which features the “All My Life” star.
Using the 50 Cent “why he say f*ck me for” meme, it looks like the Canadian superstar used the moment to make one of his notorious slick retorts without naming names.
Of course, the OVO Sound honcho has said Kanye’s name before on tracks along with other jabs over the years although it was thought the pair patched things up after performing together in a joint concert in support of Larry Hoover.
We imagine this exchange won’t be the last of it.
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Photo: Getty
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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is currently celebrating hitting the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts with the track “Carnival” from his joint album Vultures with Ty Dolla $ign. In a now-deleted post, Ye unloaded on Drake and adidas while also shouting out his collaborators.
Ye, FKA Kanye West, took to Instagram on Monday (March 11) and thanked Ty Dolla $ign, Playboi Carti, and Rich The Kid, who all feature on the “Carnival” track. According to Billboard, this is the first time Rich The Kid and Playboi Carti have hit the top of the Hot 100 chart.
However, despite this achievement, Ye had some choice words for several people in his deleted Instagram rant.
“Rich Ty Carti and the supporters that stood by us through everything This number #1 is for you. It’s for the people who won’t be manipulated by the system,” began the rant. “And f*ck adidas and everybody who works there or with them. Anyone who goes to school with anyone who’s parents work at adidas. Just know they tried to destroy me and here we are with the number 1 song in the world.”
The post ended with the shot at Drizzy.
“That’s how I feel And it’s f*ck Drake for taking Durk right at the beginning of the Vuktures [Vultures] role out I’ll come back to yall if I think of more f*ck you’s,” the post ends.
Drake, known for taking subtle and direct jabs at the Chicago superstar in times past, has not responded.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: @kanyewest / Instagram
It seems Kanye West’s business strategy continues to evolve. He says Vultures 2 will not be available for streaming but sold on his website.
As reported by Hypebeast, the sequel to the Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative project will have a more independent roll out compared to its predecessor. Last week, the rapper engaged with a fan account on Instagram and explained that he has reevaluated how he sells his art. “Was talking with the team about how to release the next album. Like James Blake said streaming devalues our music” Kanye explained. “We sell albums on Yeezy.com. I got 20 million Instagram followers. When 5% of my followers buy an album. That’s 1 million albums sold. That’s 300k more than the biggest album last year. We sold 1 million items on Yeezy.com on Super Bowl Sunday so we know it’s possible. How do you feel about us not streaming and only selling the album digitally.”
In a separate screenshot Kanye went on to add, “It would be nice for our community to support the albums, Streaming is pirating.” Since cutting ties with adidas, Kanye West has embraced a direct to consumer model specifically for his Yeezy apparel line. As referenced earlier, his brand sold over 1 million combined units of the polarizing Yeezy Pod sock shoe, a pant, t-shirt and a top. All the pieces sold at a $20 dollar price point prompting fans to believe Vultures 2 will also be sold for $20.
Vultures 2 was originally scheduled for March 8.
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Source: WWD / Getty
Kanye West’s daughter, North West, is letting it be known that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree and that she, too, is all about the music. During a listening event in Phoenix on Sunday for Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s new album Vultures 2, the 10-year-old announced she’s dropping an album of her own, and its title commemorates her father’s debut LP.
“I’ve been working on an album and it is called Elementary School Dropout,” North told the audience, which responded with a massive roar of applause.
It was just over 20 years ago that Ye blessed the Hip Hop world with his debut album College Dropout. Now, North is honoring the rap megastar by making his first album the inspiration for her own after she appeared to launch her music career on Vultures 1.
From Hip Hop DX:
The reveal comes shortly after North made her music debut on her father and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative project Vultures 1, featuring prominently on “Talking.”
The track peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her one of the youngest ever artists to appear on the chart.
On the song, North raps: “I love it here/ We’re gonna take over another year/ It’s your bestie, Miss, Miss Westie/ Don’t try to test me/ It’s gonna get messy/ Just, just bless me, bless me/ It’s your bestie, Miss, Miss Westie.”
Along with North, Ye and Kim Kardashian’s two youngest children, Psalm and Chicago, were also in attendance at the listening party, which means they got to watch their older sister perform “Talking” on stage with their father.
So, are y’all excited about North West’s upcoming debut album Elementary School Dropout? What do you think the pre-teen’s future as a recording artist is going to look like? Let us know in the comments below.
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Source: WWD / Getty / North West / Kanye West
Life father, like daughter? It would seem North West is following in the steps of her dad, Kanye West, musically, that is.
Spotted on HipHopDX, Ye’s seed, North, is gearing up to bless her besties with an album that pays direct homage to her father’s first project.
During Vultures 2’s “listening event” in Phoenix on Sunday (March 10), standing side by side with her dad, North West announced that her album was coming.
“I’ve been working on an album, and it is called Elementary School Dropout,” the 10-year-old told her dad’s loyal to fault fans.
If you’re saying that to yourself, that sounds familiar, but it is because it is a cheeky play on her West’s first album, College Dropout, which introduced the rapping super producer to the Hip-Hop world.
The album arrives after Northie made her rapping debut on the Ty Dolla $ign assisted album Vultures 1 track, “Talking.”
In the song, the daughter of Ye and Kim Kardashian rapped, “I love it here/We’re gonna take over another year/It’s your bestie, Miss, Miss Westie/Don’t try to test me/It’s gonna get messy/ Just, just bless me, bless me/It’s your bestie, Miss, Miss Westie.”
Ye’s other children, Psalm and Chicago, were at the listening event and hit the stage while their older sister spit her bars.
Oh The Irony
West’s exposing his kids to social media and public light is strange because he has made big stinks about North being on TikTok and his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, exposing them to social media.
Also, the hypocritical religious zealot wants everyone and the world to see his wife Bianca Censori’s goodies because he’s currently dressing her in as little clothing as possible.
When Will North West’s Album Arrive?
No word on when North West’s album is dropping. Maybe he will release it alongside Vultures 2, which he claims will not be available on digital streaming platforms. So there is a good chance it won’t see the light of day.
The first Vultures project had to be pulled due to numerous copyright issues. The rapper/producer, famous for making beats using samples, somehow forgot how clearing them works.
Honestly, add this North West album to something we (particularly this writer) aren’t checking for.