The Kanye controversy continues. Just a day after premiering The Life of Pablo at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Mr. West is addressing one of the album’s most-talked-about lyrics, a controversial line about Taylor Swift.
“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,” ‘Ye rhymes on “Famous.” “Why? I made that bitch famous.”
Unsurprisingly, the misogynistic lyrics were met with backlash from Swift’s fans. The “Shake It Off” singer’s brother Austin posted an Instagram video where he throws away a pair of Kanye’s signature Yeezy Boost sneakers.
Then, the 1989 singer’s camp released this statement to the press:
“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 bitch famous.'”
Today, West responded to critics with a series of tweets, claiming that Swift approved the lyrics. “First thing is I’m an artist and as an artist I will express how I feel with no censorship,” Yeezy tweeted. “2nd thing, I asked my wife for her blessings and she was cool with it. 3rd thing, I called Taylor and had a hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings.”
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West went on to note that Swift herself inspired the lyric. “It’s actually something Taylor came up with,” he added. “She was having dinner with one of our friends who’s name I will keep out of this and she told him, ‘I can’t be mad at Kanye because he made me famous!’ #FACTS.”
Swift and ‘Ye infamously crossed paths when he interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs. They seemingly reconciled last year when the singer presented him with his VMA Video Vanguard Award. The rapper subsequently sent her flowers as a sign of gratitude.
West premiered The Life of Pablo yesterday, but the album won’t be officially released until later today because he is still mastering and adding more songs. He revealed an updated tracklisting for the project, which now includes the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “No More Parties in L.A.” and “Facts” featuring Charlie Wilson.
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While fans wait on the album to drop, ‘Ye will prep for his Saturday performance on “SNL.” In the meantime, he has also revived his G.O.O.D. Fridays series with a new song off T.L.O.P. called “30 Hours.”