Kanye West has been labeled a genius by many but called crazy by many more. Kanye, who recently shortened his name to just “Ye,” is no stranger to controversy. He has been making headlines since 2004, when his first album “The College Dropout” was released and made it all the way to number two on the Billboard charts. Since then he’s been diagnosed as bipolar, which he recently addressed in the album “Ye”. In more recent times, Ye has been catching the attention of the media by using Instagram to fuel his new battle with Pete Davidson, while also using the social media platform to voice his general complaints with the world. Kanye also had his new album, “Donda 2,” released under strange circumstances, and his documentary on Netflix, “Jeen-Yuhs,” lets people see a new side of Kanye through rare footage.
Pete Davidson is also someone who’s no stranger to the gossip newsreels. In the past few weeks, dating rumors of Kim Kardashian, Ye’s ex-wife, and Pete’s new relationship surfaced on the internet. The news spread like wildfire, and Kanye was outraged by it. He had publicly pleaded for Kim to come back to him on many occasions, with him even changing the end of his hit song “Runaway” at his Free Larry Hoover concert with Drake to try to send a message for her to come back to him. Ye used his newfound madness to attack Pete, using Instagram, a platform Pete doesn’t have. Ye even posted a screenshot of a text message from Pete that seemed very polite and kind, where he was asking for forgiveness and to be friends, but Kanye posted it on Instagram for the world to see, and used the caption “NO YOU WILL NEVER MEET MY CHILDREN.” This was just the surface of the drama, and there were many, many more posts where Ye targeted Pete like this.
Ye was being so aggressive towards Pete, or “Skete” as he called him, across so many Instagram posts that it provoked Kim to text him, asking him to stop because he was “creating a dangerous and scary environment.” He captioned the post “UPON MY WIFE’S REQUEST PLEASE DO NOT DO ANYTHING PHYSICAL TO SKETE.” While the drama between the two seemed to have dialed down from a public perspective, Kanye has also called him out in multiple songs, saying very explicit things about him. Ye also took some time off from Instagram before releasing two poems: “DIVORCE” and “DEAD”, which covered his current feelings. He seems to have returned to his usual use on the platform doing his usual rants about politics, how he doesn’t want his daughter on Tik-Tok, or whatever else comes to his mind that day.
Another viral post that Kanye put on Instagram was his “Donda 2” album announcement. Many fans were surprised as the ten-time number one Billboard 200 album holder had recently released the album “Donda” not long before the second album. In typical Kanye fashion, he released the album in an unorthodox way: the album would only be available through STEM players. A STEM player is a $200 device that you can connect to your phone to play music, but then you can use the device to alter elements of the song like bass, drums, etc. This strategy seemed to have worked for Kanye as he announced he made 2.2 million dollars on the first day of the release, which equates to 500 million streams. With not much being known about the album due to the general public not having access, there is barely any material to report on.
Another thing generating buzz around Kanye is his new trilogy series, “Jeen-Yuhs,” which covers Kanye’s early music career. The documentary was created by and filmed from the perspective of Coodie, who worked for TMZ, and gave up his previous job to film Kanye when he saw the great potential in young Kanye West. The docuseries covers his early struggles of being a producer who wasn’t seen as a legitimate rapper and him emerging and trying to make a name for himself by getting a record label. It also addressed his early success that led to the present day, where watchers are exposed to a much more down-to-earth side of Kanye.
Ye West is a creative genius who revolutionized rap music, but at the same time, he’s someone that will leave you worrying about his mental health with his frequent and alarming public announcements. He’s no stranger to a headline, but the bottom line is that he usually means well. For Kanye, the future always brings something new, and fans everywhere will be curious to see what the icon does next.