Who is Kanye West?

Kanye “Ye” West is an American rapper, songwriter, producer, and fashion designer. He is widely known as one of the most influential hip-hop artists and one of the greatest musicians of our time. He began his rap career in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, during the 90s. He later started producing for artists such as Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, and Twista.

In 2004, after being pushed aside by record labels who viewed him as unmarketable, Kaye released his debut solo album, The College Dropout. The album subsequently garnered 10 Grammy nominations and went on to win the categories of “Best Rap Album” and “Album of The Year.” Kanye went on to release Late Registration (2005) and Graduation (2007), which both generated critical acclaim and heaps of sales revenue. Following the death of his mother, Donna West, Kanye debuted his fourth studio album, Heartbreak (2008), which was full of autotune singing and very little rapping.

After interrupting Taylor Swift’s VMA speech in 2009, Kanye faced public vilification, even disgraced by former President Obama, and took a hiatus. In 2010, he released what many consider to be his magnum opus: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Kanye continued to release two additional studio albums: Yeezus (2013) and The Life of Pablo (2016). After the announcement of The Life of Pablo, Kanye made his controversial political support for Donald Trump public, which led to his appearance at campaign rallies with Trump himself. Following this, Kanye published three more albums, KIDS SEE GHOSTS (2018), JESUS IS KING (2019), and Donda (2021), which were all massively successful. In 2018, Kanye also revealed that he lives with Bipolar disorder.

So, how did Kanye West go from the richest black man in America who changed the face of hip-hop to “losing 2 billion dollars in a day?”

Kanye’s Downfall

Beginning in early October of 2022, Kanye went on a spree of public appearances in which he boasted antisemitic comments, stereotypes, and conspiracy theories. He has also criticized the Black Lives Matter movement and was blocked from various social media platforms, causing disavowal by industry peers. Here is everything he has said, done, and does not regret:

October 3

  • West and Candace Owens teamed up to wear matching “White Lives Matter” shirts at the Yeezy fashion show in Paris. The term is allegedly associated with a Neo-Nazi group created as a racist response to the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter.

October 6

  • West participated in an interview with Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, in which he demonstrates his pro-life views by stating, “There’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. Fifty percent of Black death in America is abortion.”

October 7

  • Kanye was restricted from Instagram after posting a text from Diddy in which he says he was going to use Combs “as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.”

October 9

  • On Twitter, Kanye claimed he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people,” (a misspelling of “defcon”) and says it was not anti-Semitic for him to say so because “black people are actually Jew also.” Following this, Twitter locked his account.

October 15

  • In an episode of Drink Champs, Kanye falsely claims that George Floyd died because of a fentanyl overdose, not the knee on his neck suffocating him. Floyd’s family plans to sue West for these remarks.

October 17

  • In an interview with Chris Cuomo, West discusses the “Jewish underground media mafia” and states that “Black musicians signed to Jewish record labels and those Jewish record labels take ownership,” a form of “modern-day slavery.”

October 27

  • CNN Reports that Kanye wanted to name his 2018 album after Adolf Hitler and cites several anonymous sources that claim the rapper had an “obsession” with the dictator.

November 2

  • Six people who have previously worked with West tell NBC News that he has made many “pro-Hitler” and “pro-Nazi” remarks, dating back to 2018.

November 4

  • West tweeted he is “starting to think anti-Semitic means [the N word],” which Twitter eventually removed.

The Aftermath

Before Kanye debuted the “White Lives Matter” shirt, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $2 billion. However, after further antisemitic and generally racist remarks, Adidas dropped West’s partnership with the brand, costing his net worth $400 million. Several other companies have severed their ties with West following his statements, including Balenciaga, the Gap, and Foot Locker.