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Kanye West's representatives have denied the reports that the rapper has changed his name to "Ye Ye". They claim that the moniker appeared on some documents due to a mix-up.
West had notably changed his name to Ye back in 2021. A report from US Weekly on June 10 suggested that he has changed his name again, this time to "Ye Ye". His chief financial officer, Hussain Lalani, had filed some business documents under the moniker.
However, the rapper's representatives told the publication in a statement on Monday, June 16,
"There is no ‘Ye Ye’.”
They added that the name mix-up was “an oddity created by an online form that required something in both first name and last name fields.”
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Basically, since West doesn't prefer using both parts of his name, the documents were filed with Ye in both the first and last name fields.
When did Kanye West first change his name?
The singer first publicly used "Ye" in 2018. He also released an album named Ye in June that year. He also explained the reason behind it, saying (via Billboard):
"I wanted something to match my energy. I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means ‘you.’ So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye — just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are.”
In September that year, he announced his decision to change his name, writing on X:
"The being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE"
Eventually, he changed his name to Ye legally in 2021 after completing the paperwork and other formalities.
Kanye West's representatives had previously urged music industry to refer to him as Ye
While he had officially changed his name to Ye in 2021, many still refer to the rapper as Kanye West. Hence, in March 2024, his former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, had put out a letter urging the music industry to respect the rapper's name.
The letter stated,
"Ye is one of the most recognizable people in the world, on par with presidents and popes. He didn’t take the decision to change his name, potentially sacrificing some of the immense value captured by the brand of ‘Kanye West,’ lightly. The change was made fully, legally, and permanently. This is who he is now. His name is Ye.”
"He has on several occasions referred to it as his slave name. Ye is a black man in America who wants the right to full self-determination just like everyone else,” the letter added.
The rapper asserted that his former name is his "slave name". He has also announced that he will soon stop using his X account as the handle name is @kanyewest. He plans on making a "Ye" account.
