Kanye West is making the most of his right to freedom of speech.
In recent months, the rapper, who now goes by Ye, has turned heads with his no holds barred rants, conspiracies, inflammatory remarks, and support of white lives matter sentiments.
But now, he is upping the ante by name dropping some of the most popular names in Black pop culture for allegedly being used as pawns by society’s power players.
In his latest opportunity to speak in front of a camera, he said there was no way for him to be restrained. “They can control Shaq, they can control Charles Barkley. They can control LeBron James, they can control Jay-Z and Beyoncé, but they can’t control me,” he said in a clip circulated online.
West continued, “You see, it ain’t no name I won’t name. It’s up.” He then turned his attention to Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan. The 89-year-old recently spoke out in support of West amid his fallout for making anti-Semitic comments.
“To Minister Farrakhan, I love you, but the way you read that, I took that as a slight,” said West regarding Farrakhan’s remark about the rapper losing his $2 billion fortune. The hip hop icon continued, “I don’t take no disrespect from nobody. So, let’s get on the phone. Let’s talk that out. I don’t care who you are. I ain’t takin’ no slights from nobody.”
In the wake of comments he made about the Jewish community, the G.O.O.D. Music label founder has been dropped by talent agency CAA, lost his contract with Adidas, and has been dropped by Balenciaga, Gap, Vogue.
In early November, the “College Dropout” rapper added NBA great Shaquille O’Neal to his list of celebrities that he has targeted online. In a Nov. 3 tweet, he wrote, “Shaq is in business with Jamie Salter. Jaimie first said he’s 50/50 with David Beckham and 50/50 with Shaq I said “Jamie . . . There’s no such thing as 50/50 in business . . . Who has the extra 1 percent for the control and voting rights.”
In his response, O’Neal told West . “Believe me you don’t know me like that. Worry about your business, and to quote the once great Kanye West, ‘I got more money than you, so why would i listen to you[?]’ Take my advice get your family business in order. Have a great day brother.”
