The fall of Ye

Kanye West’s “greatest of all time” reputation has fallen to shambles. We observe a mentally ill man with a fair amount of personal trauma becoming increasingly unfit for a life of fame.

The 90s was a booming time for beat making, but no one was quite like the young West. He began to develop his signature sound, heavily influenced by his roots in Chicago’s South Side hip hop scene. 

College Dropout, his upbeat and creative debut album that took four years to make, won the Grammy for “Best Rap Album” in 2005. He went on to win the Grammy three more times with his subsequent albums.  

He created his own character of a hardworking businessman. By daring to depart from the stereotypes of gangs, fame, money, and girls, West established a new trend in rap culture. Instead, he focused his cleverly constructed lyricism on the relatable aspects of his youth and family. 

Kanye’s debut album was revolutionary and propelled him to a position of renowned rap greatness very early on. No one else on the scene delivered such intimate bars in such a powerful individual style. 

However, it almost feels insulting to refer to him as a rapper. From the beginning, West’s large persona was inseparable from his musical career, which benefited and ultimately cost him.

 On Oct 3, 2022, during Paris Fashion Week, a photo surfaced of Kanye wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt standing next to Candace Owens, a conservative political commentator and renowned critic of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Many individuals criticized the slogan on West and Owen’s clothes as a fascist call. According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre, White Lives Matter is a neo-Nazi group. The movement has become a direct response to anti-racist civil rights groups, and therefore, has motivated many acts of violence against people of color. 

Kanye has a past of promoting racist figures, especially in 2018 when he fully endorsed Donald Trump.

Furthermore, West went on a Twitter spree on October 8, most notably stating he would go “…death con 3…” on Jewish people. 

These tweets seemed to be the final straw for many of West’s fans and business partners. 

Balenciaga and Kering cut ties with West

Balenciaga, a high fashion brand based in Paris, and its parent company Kering ended their relationship with West on October 21. All current and future projects with the rapper were terminated indefinitely. 

The brand’s connection to West’s brand Yeezy had become a well known presence in the fashion industry, so this departure is highly explicative of the weight of West’s actions.  

Adidas ends its partnership with Ye despite a significant loss. 

Adidas made the decision to end their partnership with West despite mounting pressure. Adidas said in a statement on October 28 that they had done a “thorough review” of their relationship with the rapper and decided to stop paying Ye and his companies and immediately stop making the Yeezy line.

In a statement, the German sportswear brand stated, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism or any other type of hate speech.”

They went on to say that “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness” of the company.

Adidas had already stated that they were reevaluating their relationship with Ye prior to the Paris Fashion Week controversy. Adidas had then stated, “Successful partnerships are rooted in mutual respect and shared values.”

Gap joins the aforementioned brands

Gap announced that they would be taking “immediate steps” to remove all Yeezy products from all of their stores as well as their website. 

Gap actually announced in September that they had ended their partnership with Yeezy. This action seems to have aged well. 

“The recent remarks and actions of our former partner further demonstrate why,” the business stated in a statement on October 25.

They continued, “We have shut down YeezyGap.com and are taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap products from our stores.”

Elite athletes leave Donda Sports Agency

Jaylen Brown, a forward for the Boston Celtics, and Aaron Donald, a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams, both announced that they would be quitting Kanye West’s agency, Donda Sports, due to the anti-Semitic remarks he had made.

A day earlier, Brown had stated that he would continue working for the agency before ultimately dropping out.

“In the past 24 hours, I’ve had the option to reflect and better comprehend how my past assertions need lucidity in communicating my position against late coldhearted public comments and activities,” Brown said in his proclamation declaring the finish of his affiliation.

He continued, “I apologize for that. I also want to be as clear as possible in this. I have always and will always strongly oppose any form of antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, or oppressive speech.”

“In light of this, I now realize, after participating in conversations, that there are times when my voice and position cannot coexist in environments that do not correspond with my stance or my values. Therefore, I am terminating my relationship with Donda Sports,” said Brown.

In Donald’s statement, “As parents and members of society, we felt a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings.”

Other athletes are continuing to leave the organization after Kanye’s anti-Semtic remarks.

JP Morgan Chase does banking break up, terminates relationship with West

JP Morgan Chase cut ties with Ye, but according to reports, the decision was made before the recent controversy surrounding the musician. 

On October 12, Candace Owens posted a letter on Twitter stating that the bank had ended its relationship with Ye and his label Yeezy Inc. on September 20. 

The development was confirmed by The New York Times. The bank will keep the accounts open until November 21, when Ye must transfer them to another bank.

Ye addressed Page Six on October 12 regarding all of the controversy surrounding him. 

He said, “Calling someone out for bad business means you’re being antisemitic. I’m glad I went over that line so we can talk openly about things like getting canceled by the bank.”

He claimed to be “the richest black man in the history of American history.” 

West had previously criticized the leadership of the bank, claiming that he was denied access to Jamie Dimon, the CEO.

In just one week he lost $2 billion dollars, according to West himself. This was confirmed by Forbes, who removed West out of their World’s Billionaires List. 

Where West once held position as one of the most successful musicians of all time, his reputation has now tarnished due to unstabilized mental health issues. One can take West’s case as an example of the destruction created by hate and ignorance.