Talk:Kanye West

scrictly referred to as “ye”

ye recently exclaimed only being called “ye” and that the name “kanye west” was a slave name. my thinking is that spotify and apple music are gonna refer to him as ye now instead of kanye west which brings up the question wether or not the article name should be called “Ye (musician)” or something like that instead of “Kanye West” Purpetic (talk) 20:11, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

We'll see. See WP:CRYSTAL. – Muboshgu (talk) 20:24, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

He should be referred to as Ye, 100%. Just have Kanye West redirect to Ye. If we would change the name of a transgender individual to their preferred name I see no reason why the same can’t happen with Ye. Maninacoffin (talk) 02:48, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

@Purpetic and Muboshgu: I've noticed that Ye's artist moniker on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube is still Kanye West, and his latest 2024 albums were released as Kanye West. So Ye is his legal name and Kanye West is still is artist moniker? Israell (talk) 18:14, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

That would suggest that "Kanye West" remains is WP:COMMONNAME. – Muboshgu (talk) 19:23, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Ye should be referred to as "Ye". i've read through the talkpage archives and the arguments used to prevent moving this to its correct title are unpersuasive, especially WP:DEADNAME. the policy in the black community is that one should not "call someone out of their name", and i don't see any real reason to leave this page at its current title, but that's just my two cents. i will likely make a move request unless anyone can provide a persuasive reason to leave it at this title. Daddyelectrolux (talk) 20:52, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

Daddyelectrolux, considering that there have been four unsuccessful requested moves within the past three years, each with essentially the same rationale, such a request could be viewed as disruptive. I don't see WP:DEADNAME used as an argument in the discussions but rather WP:COMMONNAME, which dictates that Wikipedia use the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable, English-language sources) for the article title. That is policy. Unless you intend to refute that "Kanye West" is his COMMONNAME per that policy, the chances of a successful move appear slim. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 21:21, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

consensus can change, and three years is a long time. Daddyelectrolux (talk) 05:38, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

Wait, maybe refer kanye west as Ye for when he is referenced in times after he changed his name Tulurm (talk) 06:54, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

Where does it say to do that in wikipedia policy? 183.177.48.166 (talk) 03:36, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Bluddy talking about the Wikipedia policy while doxxing himself Maninacoffin (talk) 08:14, 1 December 2024 (UTC)

Ok ok ok ok Lala Lala Lala 32.219.222.162 (talk) 23:06, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 15 November 2024

Hello, I would like to just add a few links and fix a few typos! Have a good day! Axolotlguy1321 (talk) 18:55, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. – Muboshgu (talk) 18:57, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Extended protected edit request 26 November 2024

In the lead, there is this paragraph: “West has also released the collaborative albums Watch the Throne (2011) with Jay-Z, Kids See Ghosts (2018) with Kid Cudi, and Vultures 1 and Vultures 2 (2024) with Ty Dolla Sign. ”

I’d like to request to change the bolded ‘and’ with ‘as well as’, since the double ‘and’ makes the sentence unwieldy.

2605:8D80:1393:2744:B554:D2FB:9D7E:BDAE (talk) 17:26, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

 Done PianoDan (talk) 18:57, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

Album era

is this really notable enough to include in the see also section? we don't need to add the link to that page to every artist during that era. 146.199.146.160 (talk) 10:45, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

Agreed. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 12:03, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

"Ye" name in body text

Question: Since Ye has legally changed his name from "Kanye Omari West" to "Ye", shouldn't the body of the article refer to him as "Ye" instead of "West"?

The title, Kanye West, fits Wikipedia's policy since it is a Commonly Recognized Name, so that should stay.

But in the body, isn't it customary to use the person's legal name? Cher, for example, another celebrity with only one name, is referred to in her article as "Cher" throughout, and not her former last name "Sarkisian".

Of course his birth name should be included in the lead, as outlined in "WP:CHANGEDNAME", but I don't understand the justification for continuing to use "West" to describe him in the rest of the article. If anyone can find Wikipedia policy to contradict the change to "Ye", please correct me. 70.166.197.98 (talk) 04:01, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

This is a unique situation, thus policy is not totally clear on this. I discussed this with another editor here and did not reach a consensus. The comparison to Cher is not great imo because Cher is referred to by virtually all secondary sources by that name, whereas Kanye West is referred to by his new mononymous legal name by a minority of secondary sources; the vast majority still refer to him as Kanye West, so changing all subsequent uses to "Ye" feels forced and would probably confuse a lot of readers. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 17:31, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

It wouldn’t confuse a lot of users if the page was also using his legal name, this whole situation is dumb Maninacoffin (talk) 02:50, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

It... already does say that Ye is his legal name at the very beginning of the article? Besides, like the others have said, most sources call him Kanye West, so it would be customary to also refer to him as West for the rest of the article. 108.27.60.251 (talk) 02:46, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

edit on ye fromly kanye west

can you please change the photo of ye to the latest of him it the current one is 10 years ago. Kanye West at the Met Gala in 2019 2.png Jypian (talk) 04:52, 13 December 2024 (UTC)

That image is very low-quality. Recency alone is not good enough of a reason to change an infobox image. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 14:23, 13 December 2024 (UTC)

Might be a dumb question, but are there really not that many good-quality recent images of Ye? 108.27.60.251 (talk) 02:47, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

There are not. Wikipedia has a very stringent image use policy, which only allows freely licensed images. Photos of celebrities are usually non-free. High-quality ones especially are few and far between. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 13:06, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

"Kanye West's unrealized projects" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Kanye West's unrealized projects has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 January 8 § Kanye West's unrealized projects until a consensus is reached. Rusalkii (talk) 05:02, 8 January 2025 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 24 January 2025

Change

West has been one of the wealthiest musical artists; his net worth was as high as $1.8 billion in 2021.[350] In October 2022, Forbes estimated his net worth to have dropped to $400 million in large part due to Adidas's termination of their partnership following a series of public antisemitic statements.[351]

To

West has been one of the wealthiest musical artists; his net worth was as high as $1.8 billion in 2021.[350] In October 2022, Forbes estimated his net worth to have dropped to $400 million in large part due to Adidas's termination of their partnership following a series of public antisemitic statements.[351] With recent success in his company Yeezy, along with his overall music portfolio, in January 2025; Eton Venture Services confirmed West's net worth at $2.77 billion, the Aycivil (talk) 07:56, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Apologies, the ", the" is mistaken and should be replaced with just a period after the "$2.77 billion." Aycivil (talk) 07:57, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Not done for now: Do you have a better source for this? PR Newswire are considered a generally unreliable source (see WP:PRNEWSWIRE) Ultraodan (talk) 09:44, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Here, apologies, I never knew about the sources that are deemed worthy/unworthy.. Here is one from NME, in which I looked through the reliable sources list and this is implemented: https://www.nme.com/?p=%2Fdiscussion%2F4484%2F20-tracks-you-have-to-hear-this-week-1642014%2Fp1 Aycivil (talk) 17:14, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

This should be considered WP:ABOUTSELF until the valuation provider confirms it. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 23:31, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

References

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 25 January 2025

My request is that I would like to add 'Vultures 3' to the "Studio albums" section. The reason is due to many hints of this album releasing this year. Ye confirmed this earlier this month (January) on his Instragram. Today Ty Dolla $ign said "Vultures 3 on the way" in an interview at his 'Paris Fashion Week' Event. TB50Cal (talk) 01:11, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

Not done for now: see WP:CRYSTALBALL, it's okay to wait until it's released even to put it on wikipedia Cannolis (talk) 02:25, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

G.O.O.D Music not linked

In the section "2003–2006: The College Dropout and Late Registration", GOOD Music is mentioned but not linked. Due to it being a protected article, I cannot edit it. Can someone fix this? LiveUIClient5048 (talk) 23:43, 1 February 2025 (UTC)

 Done Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 22:34, 3 February 2025 (UTC)

@Throast Thank you LiveUIClient5048 (talk) 08:02, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

New pic

Since ye appeared at the grammies for the first time in a decade, there has got to be a slew of new, high quality images taken of him there to replace the infobox image, right? 2600:4041:55B8:5400:C539:B1B4:226:A511 (talk) 00:01, 3 February 2025 (UTC)

Any new image will need to be free of Copyright, and it may not be easy for you to find a Copyright free image unless you, yourself, take the photograph with your very own camera and don't subject it to copyright. You'll see more info at WP:PHOTO. MadGuy7023 (talk) 01:16, 3 February 2025 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 3 February 2025

Ye’s updated networth is at an estimated 2.77 billion, no longer the 400m estimated by Forbes. 86.2.207.2 (talk) 19:47, 3 February 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Annh07 (talk) 19:53, 3 February 2025 (UTC)

He recently said he only wants to be called "Ye", and people that call him otherwise are doing it to be mean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szqm7V1Muwc He said in this interview that, so should be change the article title to Ye for respect? JE776 (talk) 17:27, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

No. That is not how WP:COMMONNAME works. – Muboshgu (talk) 17:41, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 7 February 2025

At the end of the (top) section, '...later defining himself as a Nazi', with reference to recent news, should be added.. CS90GG (talk) 13:27, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: see WP:NOTNEWS and WP:RECENTISM. 𝚈𝚘𝚟𝚝 (𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚟𝚝) 15:32, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

West has identified as a Nazi and praised Hitler since 2022 (see the Views section). The current - very widely covered - statement is just confirmation. This isn't recentism. Zukorrom (talk) 21:30, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Kanye recent mental issue

Kanye recently announced that he has autism 2405:3800:838:C78:0:0:0:1 (talk) 18:53, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Yes, his statement about his diagnosis is noted in the article. JeffSpaceman (talk) 19:44, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Why do we not add the “American neo-Nazis” category?

Category discussion

He said he loves Hitler and said he is a Nazi as recently as last night PrisonedMuffin (talk) 21:40, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Others are free to chime in with their own thoughts, but as for what I have to say, please see prior talk page discussion at Talk:Kanye West/Archive 12#Should Category:American neo-Nazis be added to this page, where there was a consensus that an insufficient number of reliable sources describe West as a neo-Nazi (albeit there are multiple that describe him as a Holocaust denier, hence the presence of Category:American Holocaust deniers on the page). But until you can find multiple suitable sources by WP:BLP standards that directly describe West as a neo-Nazi, the category should not be included per WP:BLPCAT. JeffSpaceman (talk) 21:56, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

He has literally tweeted within the last 24 hours that he is a Nazi, he loves Hitler, “HAIL HITLER”, and other antisemitic tweets. He is a neo-Nazi. PrisonedMuffin (talk) 00:28, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

West calling himself a Nazi seems like an adequate source for him being one. While that's just one source, his own self-identification surely supersedes any potential source would deny that he is one. TKSnaevarr (talk) 00:32, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Agreed. Dude has stated multiple times that he is a Nazi and loves Hitler and that this is “old news”. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and repeatedly states that it’s a duck loudly in capitals on Twitter/X then it’s probably a duck. 194.193.169.6 (talk) 00:34, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Dude is mentally ill, not a neo-Nazi. Find us sources that refer to him as a neo-Nazi. – Muboshgu (talk) 00:43, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Are you dumb? PrisonedMuffin (talk) 00:47, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Try to WP:AGF to your fellow contributors and read some things. – Muboshgu (talk) 01:12, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

“Kanye isn’t a neo-Nazi because he’s mentally ill.”

What kind of logic is this? It’s like you’re excusing his behavior. PrisonedMuffin (talk) 01:22, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

You didn't read my link. I am not excusing his behavior. Find one source that calls Kanye a "neo-Nazi". – Muboshgu (talk) 01:24, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

uhhh Kanye himself?!!! 202.49.186.211 (talk) 01:42, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

What mental illness compels you to repeatedly declare yourself a Nazi? It just seems infantilizing toward West to deny him the agency to declare his own political affiliations, however loathsome they may be. TKSnaevarr (talk) 00:56, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Mania absolutely can explain his behavior. – Muboshgu (talk) 01:13, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

That's pretty demeaning to mentally ill people, we don't randomly become nazis by being off our meds. My guy is a neo nazi and he's mentally ill, the latter didn't cause the former. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 01:02, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

I am not generalizing about mentally ill people. Kanye is bipolar and being influenced in odd ways. None of that can be sourced reliably though because it is his own internal experience. Why do you take his word for it? – Muboshgu (talk) 01:14, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Because he's said it so many times and has become part of his personality at that point it's just him. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 01:22, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

I do think that we should get enough reliable sources that call him a Nazi for us to say he is a nazi but what I'm saying is that his mental illness has nothing to do with his political beliefs. The fact he has done has called himself one so many times can not simply be excused by mania. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 02:05, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

He literally calls himself a Nazi, praises Hitler and openly hates Jews. How is he not a neo-Nazi?! PrisonedMuffin (talk) 01:23, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Please see WP:NOR (and on top of that, WP:BLP) for overviews of relevant policies that contribute to significant portions of why the category's inclusion is disputed. JeffSpaceman (talk) 01:26, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Tweets are not reliable sources. – Muboshgu (talk) 01:26, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

him calling himself a nazi isn’t a reliable source? 202.49.186.211 (talk) 01:43, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

If he had called himself Jesus Christ reincarnated, would you take that at his word? – Muboshgu (talk) 01:54, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

If that was the case he would definitely be someone who “believes they are Jesus Christ reincarnated”. At present he is definitely someone who “believes they are a Nazi”. 194.193.169.6 (talk) 02:00, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

If enough RS's call him that then yes but he himself isn't good enough to state on Wikipedia, we go by what RS's say about people not what they say about themselves. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 02:06, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

@JeffSpaceman I get your argument- most sources don't put the word "Nazi" next to his name in unrelated events like music releases; but I think that the fact that he's called himself it multiple times (and has plenty of RS for each time) probably means that the media has consistently called him one at this point; by the virtue that he keeps asserting that he's a Nazi and therefore the media follows. 02:14, 8 February 2025 (UTC) HadesTTW (he/him • talk) 02:14, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

That RFC was from 2022; but from what I can tell RS still don't identify him as a Neo-Nazi. While he does identify as one, it is Wikipedia policy to only apply such a tag if sources agree that it's an appropriate category for the person to be categorized as. HadesTTW (he/him • talk) 02:05, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

What does Ye have to do to warrant the neo-Nazi category? Tila Tequila has it but not Ye? 202.49.186.211 (talk) 02:09, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Essentially the fanboys have to come to terms with the fact that their sacred cow is slaughtering itself. 194.193.169.6 (talk) 02:11, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Having enough Reliable Sources that call him a Neo Nazi which Tila Tequilla does. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 02:18, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

So we can’t call him a neo-Nazi, even though he calls himself a Nazi, until the media calls him one? The fuck? 202.49.186.211 (talk) 02:52, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Headline refers to Kanye West as “Nazi”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14371447/amp/Kanye-West-anti-Semitic-President-Trump-Diddy.html 194.193.169.6 (talk) 03:07, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Not a reliable source -- see WP:DAILYMAIL. JeffSpaceman (talk) 03:09, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Then what is a reliable source?

Literally from Kanye himself: I’M A NAZI

Wikipedia mods: not a reliable source 202.49.186.215 (talk) 05:10, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Read Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources, also we aren't mods we are just regular Wikipedia users and please learn the guidelines of Wikipedia before commenting you are wasting people's time. I agree with you he is a nazi but we follow guidelines here. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 10:56, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Please read Wikipedia rules, guidelines and procedure before making comments on Wikipedia. Akechi The Agent Of Chaos (talk) 04:27, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

I agree with Muboshgu. This is obviously a manic outburst, and reliable sources are treating it as such. Also, mind you that categorization is supposed to be based on defining characteristics, i.e. characteristics that reliable sources commonly and consistently refer to in describing the topic, see WP:CAT#D. By that standard, almost every article, including this one, is overcategorized, so there should be no rush to add new categories. Editors should focus on high-quality edits to the article body first and foremost. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 11:09, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Protected

Edit warring over a category is lame. Normally, those repeatedly adding a contentious category to a BLP would be blocked but I have instead fully protected the article for two weeks. It has been explained above that a reliable source would be needed to justify a category like this, and plausible explanations for why a self-declaration would be inadequate have been given. A lot has been written about West. If no RS has chosen to describe him in a manner that would justify the category, it should not be added. For the record, I know almost nothing about this topic and am not expressing an opinion—I'm just recounting standard procedure. Any further additions of the category or similar after protection expires will result in a block unless there is a clear consensus for its inclusion on this page. Johnuniq (talk) 03:25, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

RfC self-proclaimed Nazi

Should we add that he is a self-proclaimed Nazi in the introduction? Yes or no? 2804:14D:5C32:4673:BA26:228A:EFB5:AC7A (talk) 00:26, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

• I oppose adding it to the introduction, but as it is widely present in reliable sources, it could be included alongside his controversial comments noted at the end of the lede. JeffSpaceman (talk) 00:31, 8 February 2025 (UTC)
  • If there are reliable sources of him saying it, I think it would be reasonable to add a sentence along the lines of "West has described himself as a neo-Nazi." Definitely doesn't belong in the first paragraph though. Ultraodan (talk) 05:43, 8 February 2025 (UTC)
    • The latest Twitter behaviour is, sourced to the New York Times and People, in the Views section of the article (but not in views of Kanye West, which as a sub-article is supposed to have detail — Clearly people are far too focussed on what goes into a lead instead of working on what goes into a detailed article on the specific subject.). I suspect that Forbes is reliable for tying the various statements into a history and maybe to a lesser extent Billboard, too. Uncle G (talk) 08:28, 8 February 2025 (UTC)
• Hell yes 194.193.169.6 (talk) 00:32, 8 February 2025 (UTC)
• No apparently you’re not allowed to PrisonedMuffin (talk) 00:33, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Protected edit request on 8 February 2025

Make additions to 'Views' section (ideally create a section titled 'Controversies'), including all of the tweets made in February 2025, including those defending P. Diddy, Hitler, Nazis, Trump, Elon Musk, as well as the hate he has spoken about Jews, women, sexual assault victims, Kamala Harris, the LGBTQ community, Tyler the Creator, Travis Scott, low-income individuals, overweight individuals, and sex workers. Intlover223 (talk) 08:43, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Intlover223, please provide links to independent reliable sources discussing this tweetstorm. We don't mention tweets by people with severe self-ackowledged mental health problems, unless independent sources devote significant coverage to them. Cullen328 (talk) 08:49, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

I disabled the edit request because they are only available for straightforward requests such as change X to Y. Also, WP:CRIT suggests that a Controversies section would be inappropriate, so discussion would be required first to determine what proposal might gain consensus. Johnuniq (talk) 08:56, 8 February 2025 (UTC)