The Ye brings it large to Miami!
Oh boy, here we go again! Just when you thought all the music industry chatter was still obsessing over Billie Eilish’s private life, and with the year drawing to an imminent close, that maestro of mayhem, the pope of self-publicity, the cardinal of mercurial creative impulses, Mr Kanye Omari West – or Ye, to use his nouveau nom and which we will henceforth refer to him as – is back… and inevitably, controversy (and no small amount of madness) follows in his wake!
Return of the King Ye
On Sunday, December 10, Ye unveiled his secretive and anticipated musical collaboration with R&B star Ty Dolla Sign under the somewhat curious – typically Ye style – collective name of ¥$. The co-writing venture will be released as an album titled Vultures this Friday (December 15).
Ye revealed cuts from the new release at a swanky release party in Miami… wherein he donned a black Ku Klux Klan outfit! A shocking move for some – especially in Uncle Sam’s current socio-political climate – but for Ye, entirely within character and predictable with hindsight.
How to Sabotage Your Own Career
Ye has been uncharacteristically under the radar since his supposedly anti-semitic comments in late 2022, when he threatened to “go def-con 3 on Jewish people” and wore a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter”. True to form in the hair-trigger, over reactionary culture that is contemporary America right now (and despite the constitutionally-protected freedom of speech and expression), a raft of sponsor companies started cutting ties with Ye, who allegedly saw his personal fortune go from a reported $1.8 billion to a ‘mere’ $400 million as a result of the commercial blacklisting.
Of course, your commercial prospects are not exactly helped by engaging in interviews with the likes of Tucker Carlson (who referred to Ukraine’s Jewish President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by the anti-semitic “rat-like” trope) or disgraced conspiracy theorist mogul Alex Jones, nor coming out with such incendiary statements as “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis,” or the all-timer of “I do love Hitler.”
Most people would at this point embark on an ‘apology’ tour, showing humility and contrition… not our Ye though! Ever the agent provocateur, he’s doubled down on the controversy in a track on the forthcoming album wherein he in no uncertain terms describes carnal acts with “a Jewish bitch”!
Put the shovel down, Ye dude, and stop digging…
Oh, And There’s Some Music Too…
Ethnic and racial provocations aside – and with Ye, that’s never an easy task! – Vultures sees the one-man controversy magnet team up with a range of notable (not to mention suitably infamous) guest stars, including Charlie Wilson, Lil’ Baby, the currently-incarcerated Young Thug, and even his eldest daughter, North West.
Although stated the upcoming album will be released on December 15 as planned, it’s unclear what label will distribute it as Ye’s longtime distributor Def Jam cut ties with him after last year’s controversial remarks.
How the album sounds, its overall quality, and its ultimate commercial prospects are of course entirely incidental when it comes to Ye, who pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head in a lyric on the upcoming album… “Everyone’s waiting on me to say the wrong thing.”
No kidding.
