You can’t keep Kanye West down. Not for long. The rapper-songwriter has a message for Taylor Swift in his new album, The Life of Pablo (TLOP). Resurrecting his strange relationship with Tay — he had infamously interrupted the country-pop singer when she was about to receive an award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards — Kim Kardashian’s husband sings on his new 3:16-minute song, Famous (featuring Rihanna): ‘I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that b**ch famous.’
Rewind to the ‘jackass’ moment
Taylor Swift was about to deliver her acceptance speech for the Best Female Video award in 2009 when Kanye walked up on stage and went... “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time.” It was enough to make President Barack Obama call West a “jackass”. Kanye and Taylor apparently buried the hatchet at last year’s Grammy Awards where they were snapped smiling at each other. But pictures at times lie, we guess!
Support from the Tay brigade
At first it was reported by TMZ that Kanye had received permission to use the “I made that b**ch famous” line. But Taylor’s management has shot down the report with a statement: “Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single Famous on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that b**ch famous’.”
The Bad Blood singer’s brother, Austin, hit out, posting a video on Instagram of him throwing his Yeezy trainers into the bin while whistling the Bridge on the River Kwai tune, with the caption: “Getting a head start on some spring cleaning. Here we go again.”
Supermodel Gigi Hadid, who was at the “listening party” of Kanye’s new album at Madison Square Garden on Thursday evening, added more power with the tweet: “My attendance somewhere does not mean I agree with everything being said in the music playing there. My friends know of my loyalty.”
Another of Tay’s friends, Jaime King, has tweeted: “I’m so sad right now & disappointed right now. I stand by my sister. Always.”
The $10million offer
Controversial businessman Martin Shkreli has jumped into the ring. Known for purchasing the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin... for $2million in 2015 (this means he has the only copy of the album!), Shkreli has offered to buy the rights to The Life of Pablo for $10million. He has tweeted a photo of a letter that reads: “Instead of releasing this product for your millions of fans, I ask you to sell this recording solely to me, for the price of $10m. I believe you (and your partners) will find this financial arrangement more attractive than your current course of action.”
Now, let’s wait for two tweets — one from Taylor, of course, and the other from Rihanna, who is featured on the song.
Will the real Pablo stand up please?
Which Pablo is Kanye referring to in the album’s title, The Life of Pablo? Is it Pablo Picasso? Speaking at Oxford University last year, Kanye had said: “My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater.... That always sounds so funny to people, comparing yourself to someone who has done so much, and that’s a mentality that suppresses humanity.” Or is it Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord? Maybe Chilean poet Pablo Neruda? Or, Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta? In the words of Charlie Brown: “Good grief!”
Three more kanye-able quotes from tlop
Sorry that I ain’t call you back/ The same problem that my father had. — Father Stretch My Hands
I love her, I want her / I’m tryna f**k her.
— Fade
What if Kanye made a song about Kanye/ Called ‘I Miss the Old Kanye’/ Man, that would be so Kanye/ That’s all it was Kanye/ We still love Kanye/ And I love you like Kanye loves Kanye.
— Feedback
@kanyewest in tweets
You may be talented, but you’re not Kanye West.
July 6, 2012
I have to dress Kim everyday so she doesn’t embarrass me.
August 6, 2012
Have you ever thought you were in love with someone but then realised you were just staring in a mirror for 20 minutes?
February 10, 2014
It’s 1 am and I can’t stop thinking about myself.
October 3, 2014
Dear Santa Claus, tell me what gift would you like to have this year.
December 15, 2014
I have no interest in working with anyone who is too important or too good or too traditional to take a call at 3am.
January 10, 2016
Kanye or Taylor — whose side are you on? Tell t2@abp.in
