Ye

J Prince Somehow Convinced Ye To Post A Video Asking Drake To Settle Their Beef With A Benefit Performance In LA

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After several years of back-and-forth between the two collaborators turned rivals, the feud between Drake and Ye may soon come to an end, apparently thanks to Houston hip-hop impresario J Prince. Prince posted a video on Instagram of himself and Ye at Rothko Chapel in Houston in which Kanye reads a prepared statement on his phone requesting for Drake to join him onstage in Los Angeles at a benefit show advocating for the release of Chicago gang founder Larry Hoover.

“I’m making this video to address the ongoing back-and-forth between myself and Drake,” Kanye explains. “Both me and Drake have taken shots at each other and it’s time to put it to rest. I’m asking Drake on December 7 to join me as a special guest to share the two biggest albums of the year live in Los Angeles with the ultimate purpose being to free Larry Hoover. I believe this event will not only bring awareness to our cause but prove to people everywhere how much more we can accomplish when we lay our pride to the side and come together.”

According to Prince’s caption, he didn’t “plan” to meet Kanye at Rothko Chapel but did so at the behest of Hoover, who apparently wanted to see the two rappers bury the hatchet. Prince wrote, “Ye received this well and said thanks because he never had anyone that sat him down and explained things to him the way I did,” noting that he is “looking forward to all of us working together in unison to elevate our communities around the world.” Hoover was the co-founder of the Chicago Gangster Disciples gang and was sentenced in 1997 to a seriously unrealistic 150–200 years in prison for a laundry list of charges including drug conspiracy, extortion, and murder. He has since reportedly turned over a new leaf, advocating community charity and criminal justice reform.

As of press time, there has not been a response from Drake, but fans on social media have already begun speculating about the possibility of an end to the feud, as well as wondering how much J Prince’s menacing reputation factored into Ye’s low-key demeanor in the video compared to his most recent boisterous appearance on Drink Champs.

In any event, we’ll see if Drake plays ball and what ultimately comes of it. Worst case, Ye and Drake will put their petty disagreements to rest — even if one of them had to be forced into it by one of the most fearsome figures in rap history.

Ye Dedicates His Latest Sunday Service Concert To The Victims Of The 2021 Astroworld Festival

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Despite starting the weekend with controversy, thanks to his interview on Drink Champs, Ye is ending the weekend on a peaceful note. At this weekend’s Sunday Service concert, which was livestreamed on Triller, Revolt, and YouTube, the rapper announced that he was dedicating it to the victims of Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld Festival. The announcement was made moments before it kicked off at 4 pm EST and as viewers waited for the livestream to begin, a message read, “Sunday Service dedicated to the loved ones of Astroworld.”

The Sunday Service concert marks Ye’s second such event in as many weekends, having gone more than 18 months without holding one. Last week’s edition featured an appearance from Justin Bieber, Roddy Ricch, and Marilyn Manson, who faces multiple sexual and emotional abuse allegations. There, tracks from Ye’s tenth Donda, including “Come To Life,” “Hurricane,” and “Pure Souls,” were performed, while Bieber and Manson each led prayers during the service.

Ye recently delivered an unfiltered interview on N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s podcast Drink Champs. During the sit-down, which was released on Thursday night, Ye said the “worst thing I’ve ever done” was sign Big Sean and he doubled down on his support for Donald Trump. He also accused producer Just Blaze of stealing his production style, a claim that Jay-Z later pushed back on.

Roddy Ricch is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Hit-Boy Claims Ye Tried To Blackball Him From The Music Industry After They Had A Fallout

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It’s been years since Ye and producer Hit-Boy have worked together, and it’s all because the two had a falling out some years back. Hit-Boy previously spoke about the separation, saying it occurred after Ye found out he was working with Beyonce. During a recent interview on the Rory & Mal podcast, Hit-Boy further discussed the incident and how it almost affected his career. “I thugged through a lot of f*cked up sh*t, falling out with Kanye f*cked me up for a minute bro,” Hit-Boy said. “I was damn n****, am I still gonna be able to do this sh*t?”

He continued, “Just being a thousand, it’s n****s that done came to me that was like Ye said to this n****, ‘Don’t use Hit-Boy on your album.’ Like I really lived through that, n****. How many motherf*ckers could get through Kanye tryna derail their sh*t bro? So now you see why I’m at the Nas party like, “N**** I did a harder album than for Nas than you did, that’s just real.”

The Nas party that Hit-Boy is referring to is the album release celebration the two artists had for King’s Disease II, the Nas album that Hit-Boy executive produced. It was there that Hit-Boy said to the audience, “It’s not a hundred n****s producing the beat. It’s not a hundred n****s writing the rhymes, n****. It’s two n****s in the studio. I hear this shit right now, homie. It’s going down. King’s Disease II. Stream that sh*t, buy that sh*t.”

He added, “There don’t be n****s in the studio. It’s just me and bro. Do y’all hear this sh*t? It’s just me and this n**** in the studio. He’s barred up, I’m making beats. No hoopla. We not on f*ckin’ Twitter botherin’ y’all. We not on IG Live putting a weird-ass stream up, n****. We doin’ this sh*t for real though, n****! Stop playin’!”

Just Blaze Responds To Ye’s Claims That He Copied Ye’s Whole Style

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Ye — aka Kanye West — caused quite a stir with his recent appearance on NORE’s podcast Drink Champs. In addition to throwing his former GOOD Music signees Big Sean and John Legend under the bus and realigning himself with Donald Trump, he also made other wild claims including accusing fellow former Roc-A-Fella Records in-house producer Just Blaze of copying his production style. While it’s true that both producers made use of pitch-shifted soul samples, there is ample evidence that their techniques were developed concurrently — that didn’t stop Kanye from doing his best to burn that particular bridge.

Now, Just Blaze himself has replied to Kanye’s claims, posting a statement on Instagram and Twitter calling the incident “unfortunate” and refuting the accusations of copying.

Well that was unfortunate. I’m only addressing this publicly because it was stated publicly. I’m not here for the mudslinging, I’m just a bit confused and disappointed.

None of what was said tonight regarding me fits with any of our history or our previous interactions – particularly in light of very recent attempts to work together again. Through recent years he has reached out to collaborate on various projects, including a much rumored collaborative project that he was looking for me to handle a good amount of. It unfortunately never saw the light of day due to reasons unrelated to me. Most recently, a couple of months back I woke up to a literal red alert from his people that he was looking for me for his last album in the 11th hour. We tried to pull something off but it was way too last minute.

Regarding that one comment: respectfully, I’m happy for him and the fact that he has succeeded in the ways he wanted to, but not everyone wants to be where he is. Everyone’s definition of personal success is a bit different. I’m quite happy where I am creatively, with my family, and my life in general. We were a part of history together and I wish him well and continued success.

Just signs off by warning, “Media: please do not clickbait this,” but like… we all have jobs to do, man. Anyway, the fallout from Kanye’s implosion on Drink Champs continues to land on the music landscape and I’m sure that there will be further responses from those folks the mercurial producer mentioned because there were a lot and he wasn’t really kind to most of them.

Kanye Says He Still Supports Donald Trump: ‘I Still Got A Red Hat On Today’

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During Donald Trump’s time in the White House, Ye (then known as Kanye West) received a lot of flak for his support of the president. Now, it turns out he still has positive feelings about the much-maligned former POTUS.

In an eventful new interview on the Drink Champs podcast, Ye’s support of Trump, which hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN thought was a thing of the past, was mentioned, and Ye said, “I still got a red hat on today, I’ll let y’all know that. I might not got it on, but I’ll let y’all know where I stand.”

This comes after Ye’s own (failed) campaign for president, during which he distanced himself from Trump. In a July 2020 interview, he said, “I am taking the red hat off, with this interview.” In that same conversation, he offered praise for Trump, saying, “Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.” He also said of his reasoning for wearing the red hat, “One of the main reasons I wore the red hat as a protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community. Also, other than the fact that I like Trump hotels and the saxophones in the lobby.”

Watch the full Drink Champs episode with Ye below.

Ye Says The ‘Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done Was Sign Big Sean’ And Adds That He Is Not On Good Terms With Him Or John Legend

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Just over two months after he released his tenth album Donda, Ye delivered his first full interview since the project was released through an appearance on N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s podcast, Drink Champs. The trio talked about a number of topics that included Donda, his presidential run, and his rocky marriage with Kim Kardashian, but comments about his former GOOD Music signees Big Sean and John Legend have caught many by surprise.

N.O.R.E. asked Ye to pick between Big Sean and Pusha T, two artists who have long been associated with his GOOD Music label. It’s here that Ye delivered harsh comments about Sean. “When I die, on my tombstone it’s gonna say: ‘I deserve to be here because I signed Big Sean,” Ye said. He continued, “I’m saying [that] the worst thing I’ve ever done was sign Big Sean.” After N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN delivered surprised reactions to his comments, Ye explained his reasoning behind the harsh statement.

“Nah man, look, I know this man mama bro, you know what I’m saying? I’ve changed this man’s family and both John Legend and Big Sean, when I ran for office, got used quick by the Democrats to come at their boy that actually changed their life and that’s some sellout sh*t.” He added, “I don’t rock with neither of them and I need my apologies. I ain’t saying they gonna change, but n****s is scared.”

After Sean presumably caught wind of Ye’s comments, he seemingly responded on Twitter with a slew of laughing emojis before directly addressing Ye. “Was just wit this man, he ain’t say none of that!!!” Sean said with two pictures of him, Ye, and Hit-Boy. “And this was after the interview! I’m dying laughing at you @kanyewest [laughing emoji].”

You can watch the clip from Drink Champs and the full episode above.

It Sure Looks Like Kanye West — AKA Ye — Has Now Shaved Off His Eyebrows

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Kanye West’s latest string of attention-grabbing stunts continues. Just a week after legally changing his name to “Ye,” the mercurial producer started wearing a playful but deeply unsettling Halloween mask for public appearances, then debuted a strange, seemingly self-styled haircut — but it doesn’t stop there. As photos from Kanye’s latest Sunday Service on October 31 emerged online, fans noticed yet another new change that will certainly raise a few eyebrows. Not Kanye’s eyebrows, though… because it appears he’s shaved them completely off.

It’s as yet unclear why he would do such a thing — other than, y’know, the whole Kanye of it — but fans have already noticed and begun sharing their impressions.

The move certainly appears to have been inspired in part by the controversial guest Kanye brought to the latest edition of Sunday Service, Marilyn Manson. Kanye seems to have developed a soft spot for the disgraced rocker over the past few months. After Manson was accused of sexual assault and several other musicians distanced themselves from him in the wake of his arrest for that assault, Kanye brought him out to the third Donda listening event in Chicago along with DaBaby, who was also under fire for making homophobic comments at Rolling Loud in Miami. Ye even added Manson to the final version of his album, and now, it looks like he’s even starting to take on some of Manson’s styling tips — for better or worse.

Ye’s ‘Donda’ May Soon Receive The Deluxe Treatment Thanks To A Teaser On Apple Music

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Ye’s Donda seemingly took forever to come out. The project arrived more than a year after it was originally announced and after three album listening sessions held in major stadiums in Atlanta and Chicago. Thankfully, the wait came to an end at the end of August when the rapper released the project complete with 27 songs and guest appearances from Jay-Z, Lil Durk, Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, The LOX, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Kid Cudi, Don Toliver, Ty Dolla Sign, and more. Two months after Donda was released, Ye is seemingly gearing up to release a deluxe version of the album.

A Twitter user shared two screenshots of teasers for a deluxe reissue for Donda on Twitter. The first appear on the platform’s Italy page and was captioned, “A deluxe version of Yeezus’ tenth recording miracle,” while the second appeared on Apple Music’s Germany page. Ye or anyone in his camp has to confirm when the deluxe would arrive or whether or not one is in the works in the first place.

This comes after the rapper’s Donda stem players were finally delivered to fans who purchased it. The device allows “customize any song” and control vocals, drums, bass, and samples, isolate certain parts of a song, as well as add effects. The stem players were also delivered three unreleased songs — “Life Of The Party,” “Up From The Ashes,” and “Never Abandon Your Family” — in addition to Ye’s complete tenth album.

You can view the screenshots of the Apple Music teasers for Donda deluxe above.

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

Ye Brings Out Marilyn Manson And Justin Bieber For His First Sunday Service Concert In Over A Year

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The last time the world received a Sunday Service concert from Ye, who legally changed his name from Kanye West a few weeks ago, the rapper was just a few months removed from his 2019 album Jesus Is King. Fast-forward 18 months, Ye returned with a new Sunday Service concert on Halloween. The event was held on the rooftop of an unknown location and it featured appearances from Marilyn Manson, Justin Bieber, and Roddy Ricch according to viewers who tuned into the livestream which was broadcast on Triller and Fite TV.

Manson, who was controversially invited onstage by Ye for Chicago’s Donda listening session, and Bieber both lead individual prayers of their own during the service while Roddy Ricch was spotted with the trio in the surrounding crowd. While this was the first official Sunday Service event in 18 months, it marks the first time the group delivered a live performance since DMX’s funeral earlier this year where they performed tracks that included Soul II Soul’s “Keep On Movin’” and Ye’s “Ultralight Beam.”

The performance comes after Ye’s Yeezy brand was hit with a lawsuit. Recently elected LA County District Attorney George Gascón filed the suit on October 22 for the brand for their failure to “ship items within thirty days and failing to provide adequate delay notices” to customers.

You can few images from the Halloween Sunday Service above.

Roddy Ricch is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.