The controversial but world-renowned artist Kayne West took to Twitter to announce that he is changing name to YE, stating “The being formally known as Kanye West … I am YE”.
Ye has been one of Kayne’s nicknames for years, with many frequently referring to him solely as Ye. Subsequently, ‘Ye’ was the title for his eigth studio album which was released earlier this year. The change in name pre-empted his appearance on Saturday Night Live where it was thought his new album Yandhi would be launched.
Mr West has spoken on the significance of Ye for him, being more than just an abbreviation, he notes the religious importance that it has to him. Whilst discussing the Ye album with Big Boy he spoke on it:
“I believe ‘ye’ in the most commonly used word in the bible and in the bible it means ‘you’, so I’m you, I’m us. It went from Kayne which means the only one to just Ye – just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything”.
Following his announcement and appearance, Kanye West was joined by fellow G.O.O.D Music artist Teyana Taylor to perform their new feel-good song “We Got Love” live on Saturday Night Live.
Kanye is one of an array of famous artists to change their name, with Sean Combs (P. Diddy) and Young Thug (or SEX) being just some of many to make the change later in their careers.
The release of Ye’s 9th album is expected to be released this weekend.
While we wait for the release of ‘Yandhi’, watch his SNL performance of “We Got Love” with Teyana Taylor above.