Ye

Ye’s ‘Donda’ Bulletproof Vest Was Turned Into An NFT And Sold For A Lot Of Money

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Fans began to grow impatient earlier this year while waiting months to hear Ye’s long-delayed album Donda. That’s why the rapper’s Donda listening parties were such a big deal. Ye took over stadiums, sleeping at one and building a replica of his child home in another, and played the entirety of his LP to eager fans. The events were so iconic that one of the bulletproof vests he wore to a listening party is being auctioned off for a lot of money — alongside an NFT that’s an exact digital replica of the vest.

After his Donda listening party in Atlanta was over, Ye apparently gifted his ballistic vest to one of the security guards working there that night. The security guard sold the clothing item back in August for $20,000, but now, it’s sold for even more than that. Auction company Christie’s come into possession of the vest. But rather than selling the vest by itself, Christie’s had an NFT made of it. According to NME, the vest and the NFT just sold for a whopping $75,000.

Sharing a video of the NFT on Instagram, Christie’s wrote:

“We are proud to offer a unique piece of music history: the bullet proof vest worn by Kanye during the August 5th debut of his DONDA album, complete with ballistics panels, hand painted DONDA and Kanye signed MBD, ‘my body different’, and the first 1-of-1 NFT of its kind sold at Christie’s, allowing this moment in music history to live on both physically and digitally.”

Check out the NFT vest above.

Kim Kardashian Reportedly Claims She Has ‘No Desire To Reconcile’ With Ye After Their Divorce

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Ye has been trying his best to win back his ex-wife Kim Kardashian after she filed for divorce back in February. His latest efforts occurred during the Larry Hoover benefit concert, which he held with Drake. He added new lyrics to his 2011 track “Runaway,” rapping, “I need you to run right back, baby, more specifically, Kimberly.” Unfortunately for Ye, such efforts don’t appear to be working, as Kardashian recently filed to be legally single, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone.

The filing also reveals how Kardashian perceived the end of their relationship. “There is no question that the marriage of the parties is no longer viable,” the documents read. “Petitioner has no desire to reconcile with Respondent and wants their marriage terminated. Irreconcilable differences have led to the irremediable breakdown of the marriage, and there is no possibility of saving the marriage through counseling or other means.”

It continues, “There will be no prejudice to Respondent if our marriage is immediately dissolved, especially given the fact that throughout our marriage, we adhered to the terms of our premarital agreement and maintained the separate property character of our assets.”

The new filing comes after Kardashian credited Ye with helping her interest in fashion during a speech she gave when she won the Fashion Icon Award at the 2021 People’s Choice Awards.

Kanye Joined Future For A Surprise Performance At Rolling Loud

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In the handful of years since its inception, Rolling Loud has accumulated an impressive number of memorable surprises, from Offset popping out during Cardi B’s headlining set with a big public apology to DaBaby bringing out Tory Lanez for his set in Miami. And while both of those examples land more on the “Facepalm” side of the spectrum, the final night of the festival in San Bernardino brought one that was much more exciting and positive.

During Future’s closing set, the Atlanta rapper brought out one of the biggest names in hip-hop: Kanye West, aka Ye, who joined Future to perform a freestyle to Future’s “F*ck Up Some Commas,” as well as his own monster hit, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”

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wowwww 😳 #fyp #kanyewest #future #pluto #rollingloud #yeezy #musicnews

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The surprise performance capped an impressive week for Ye, who also held his Free Larry Hoover concert in Los Angeles just a few days earlier. Unfortunately, in true Kanye fashion, that show now has as much potential for controversy as anything else he’s done in the past few years. A new report found that the merchandise profits from the show — which also featured Drake as a special guest, constituting a ceasefire between the two rappers — won’t be donated to any charities.

Ye And Drake’s Merchandise Profits From Their Benefit Concert Will Reportedly Not Be Donated To Charity

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On Thursday, Ye and Drake’s Larry Hoover benefit concert finally went down, to great acclaim. Ye performed a number of tracks from throughout his catalog while Drake stuck to songs from Certified Lover Boy. The concert also offered some merchandise for attendees and viewers at home to purchase, ranging from hoodies, jeans, and t-shirts. As the show was a benefit concert for Larry Hoover, the incarcerated founder of Chicago’s Gangster Disciples gang, many wondered where the profits from the show would go. Just a couple of days after the concert, we have an answer (sort of).

According to GQ, a representative confirmed that the sales made from the merchandise sold with the concert will not be donated to charity. It’s unknown where the money will go, but the representative confirmed the funds will not be given to organizations like criminal justice reform groups. However, that is not the case for the ticket sales from the concert. Those will reportedly be donated to those groups, leaving them to receive a sizeable amount of money as a result of the benefit show.

This comes after a report revealed that federal officials were “surprised” and upset about Drake and Ye’s support towards Larry Hoover. They struggled to understand why they would vouch for Hoover’s release, a man they called “the worst of the worst.”

Drake And Ye’s Larry Hoover Benefit Concert Reportedly Left Federal Officials ‘Surprised’ And Upset

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After a few weeks of promotion, Drake and Ye took over the Los Angeles Coliseum for their benefit concert for Larry Hoover, and it was quite the spectacle. Ye took the stage a performed a number of hits from his 15-year catalog, including “Jesus Walks,” “All Falls Down,” “Good Life,” “All Of The Lights.” Drake appeared later on and mostly stuck to songs from Certified Lover Boy like “Knife Talk,” “Way 2 Sexy,” and “Girls Wants Girls.” All in all, it was a great show that left viewers extremely satisfied, but according to TMZ, federal officials are shocked by it all.

The report says officials are “surprised” that Drake and Ye held the concert at all. Hoover, a Chicago native and founder of the Gangster Disciples gang, is currently serving a state-sanctioned sentence of 150-200 years for a 1973 murder and six life sentences for running a criminal organization from prison. Federal officials can’t seem to understand why Drake and Ye would want to support a man who they called “the worst of the worst.”

While the odds of the concert leading to Hoover’s freedom are minimal, it did help to end Drake and Ye’s longtime beef. The rappers reconciled weeks before the show thanks to some help from J Prince, and it was good to see them showing each other some brotherly love onstage.

Ye’s Publicist Reportedly Harassed A Georgia Poll Worker At Her Home Over Fake Voter Fraud Claims

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This week brought a chilling reminder that Trump’s election fraud claims weren’t just hot air — they had serious, harmful effects on real people. 62-year-old Georgia poll worker Ruby Freeman reportedly had to move out of her home of 20 years when an online conspiracy theory brought threatening calls and letters and vigilantes menacing her neighbors. As it turns out, one of those who traveled to her home to harass her over the fake voter fraud was on the staff of rapper Kanye West, who himself had just ended an ill-fated, slapdash Presidential campaign, which some believed was a ploy to siphon Black voters away from Joe Biden.

Reuters reports that Trevian Kutti, a publicist for Kanye, went to Freeman’s home, telling Ruby that she worked for an unidentified “high-profile individual” and telling her that she had 48 hours to confess to voter fraud or she would be arrested and sent to jail. Freeman says she called 911, requesting a police officer to come and keep an eye on things. By this time, she’d been harassed for weeks after Trump accused her publicly of what amounted to ballot stuffing, although authorities quickly refuted his unfounded claims.

Kutti and her companion, a male who called himself a “crisis manager,” told Freeman she was “in danger,” prompting them to move the conversation to the police station. On an officer’s body cam video, Kutti could reportedly be heard telling Freeman, “You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up.” After Kutti called an unknown person she said had “authoritative powers to get you protection,” Freeman said the two tried to get her to implicate herself.

Eventually, Freeman turned Kutti away and later looked her up, finding out that she was a Trump supporter. Prior to working with Kanye, which was confirmed by media reports and Kutti’s own website, she’d worked for R. Kelly. The next day after the visit, Freeman was advised by the FBI to vacate her home. On January 6, Freeman says, a mob of Trump supporters surrounded the home, shouting through bullhorns.

Kanye hadn’t responded to Reuters’ request for comment as of press time.

Rick Ross Doesn’t Think Drake And Ye Took Their Feud As Seriously As Fans Did

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For the last few years, the feud between Drake and Kanye West — sorry, I mean Ye — has been the subject of endless fascination and speculation among fans. Every shot from either side was relentlessly pondered and debated, and fans took great delight in parsing each artist’s output for secret subliminal disses while goading the confrontation at every turn.

However, through it all, there was one artist among their peers who never bought into the hype. Rick Ross previously noted that he “loved” the back and forth between the two, reminding fans that the antics didn’t really put either artist at risk. “Kanye posted Drake’s address on the Instagram, but who didn’t have Drake address already?” he said.

He reiterated a similar sentiment on Wednesday night during a live interview with Billboard at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles which Uproxx attended. “This wasn’t something that I really took seriously,” he said of the so-called beef between Drake and Ye. “These are two icons, forward-thinkers, highly intelligent brothers. I didn’t really see them taking it too seriously.”

However, like many, he enjoyed seeing the two call a ceasefire for a benefit concert set to take place this week at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. “The Free Larry Hoover campaign is a great reason to come together and get on the stage. That’s what I’m excited about and happy to see these brothers pulling it off, and let’s make sure we tune in.”

Elsewhere in the interview, he also addressed his own supposed friction with Meek Mill after fans spent the summer speculating about simmering tensions between the Philly rapper and his mentor. Those rumors intensified with a line on Ross’ new single, “Little Havana” from his upcoming album Richer Than I Ever Been dropping this week.

“N****s soul being sold and still own a leash,” Ross raps on the track. “Roger Goodell boy, he ain’t a corniche / I was really throwin’ money, I really saw Meech / And I let them rappin’ n****s get closer to Meek.” However, at the Grammy Museum, Ross said there was no ill will behind the lyrics. “I feel like we’re both hustlers,” he said. “That’s one thing about life, you either grow together or grow apart. As a boss, you make that decision, because whatever it is you want to do, Ricky Rozay wants to see you do it. There’s a lot of people that didn’t last or was still down with me the way Meek is — so I want to see the homie shine regardless.”

Richer Than I Ever Been is out 12/10 via Epic Records.

Drake And Ye Were The Most-Tweeted About Musicians Of 2021

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When it comes to conversations about music, much of the discourse goes down on Twitter. That’s why it’s no surprise that the most talked-about artists on the platform were those who released an album this year or those that were surrounded by controversy (and if you’re Ye — both).

Twitter collected all their data from this year and shared who the most-tweeted-about musicians were. Drake came in at No. 1, Ye followed shortly after him, and Lil Nas X sat at No. 3. It comes as no surprise that BTS was the fourth most-tweeted-about musician thanks to their massive global fanbase. After BTS, who were the most-tweeted-about group in 2020, was Taylor Swift at No. 5, whose rerecorded Red (Taylor’s Version) gave the singer a fair amount of buzz on the platform. Nicki Minaj came in at No. 6, Beyonce was No. 7, Megan Thee Stallion was No. 8, DaBaby was No. 9, and Cardi B made it in at No. 10.

Though BTS fell down a few placements this year compared to last year, they were still big when it came to the most-liked tweets of the year. Joe Biden celebrating his inauguration in 2021 was the single most-liked tweet, but a selfie by BTS member Jungkook was the second-most-liked tweet of the year with 3.2 million likes.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ye And Drake’s ‘Free Larry Hoover’ Concert Is Reportedly Costing $10 Million

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With Ye and Drake’s Free Larry Hoover concert just hours away and scheduled to stream around the world live, TMZ reports that the crew at the LA Memorial Coliseum are working overtime to finish the stage ahead of the production. In addition, TMZ’s sources say that the show’s budget comes in at well over $10 million, covering the cost of the stage, space rental, staff, and security.

Of course, to the two rappers, who have spent the last several years sniping at each other on their records and social channels, the cause is worth the cost. According to J. Prince, who is the one who ultimately connected the two artists, Drake saw the bigger picture was worth setting aside their petty — and extremely funny, let’s be honest — feud.

Hoover, who helped co-found Chicagos’ notorious Gangsta Disciples organization, has been in prison since 1997, serving a life sentence (six of them, actually, which… how?) for an extended list of crimes committed in his capacity as the gang’s leader. However, since then, he says he’s seen the error of his ways and can do more good outside of prison keeping kids away from gangs with his knowledge, experience, and street credibility.

In addition, Larry Hoover Jr. has been advocating for his father’s release, as well as overall prison reform.

The Free Larry Hoover Concert is expected to begin tonight at 8 pm.

J Prince Says He Believes Drake Reconciled With Ye Because He Saw ‘The Bigger Picture’

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Tomorrow night, Ye and Drake will take over the Los Angeles Coliseum for their benefit concert for Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder currently serving a 150-200 year sentence for a 1973 murder. The show will be available on Amazon platforms and in IMAX theaters. However, it wouldn’t be happening without the rappers’ decision to set aside their differences, ending the beef they’ve had for the past three years. Rap-A-Lot Records CEO J Prince had a huge hand in helping Ye and Drake patch things up, but in a new interview with Billboard, he sets the record straight on how it went down.

“I painted the bigger picture to Drake,” Prince explained when he was asked why he thinks the two rappers met at Drake’s Toronto mansion late last month. “I let him know that this is a moment and movement that can save lives. I believe by Drake and Kanye being an example, as two of hip-hop’s top artists, that lives would be saved.” He continued, “I believe this is going to be imitated and it’s important to be an example to those that look up to you and that meant something to Drake — just the life-saving event wrapped around putting the spotlight on injustice, prison reform, and my brother Larry Hoover. Everything is icing on the cake after that, because he never envisioned things like that.”

Prince also made sure to note that he did not pressure or “force” Ye into setting aside his differences with Drake for the benefit concert. “It was an interesting conversation, but the furthest thing from the truth regarding any kind of force,” he said. “I heard all kinds of rumors, and that was the furthest thing from the truth To me, that moment was what I called an ‘anointing moment’ — because none of it was planned. It wasn’t planned where we had that meeting in that particular church, but me being a man of God, I couldn’t deny the invitation to actually meet him.”

The concert will kick-off at 11pm EST / 8pm PST on Thursday and stream on Prime Video, the Amazon Music app, and the Amazon Music Twitch channel in addition to IMAX theaters.

You can read J Prince’s full sit-down with Billboard here.