It seems that Chicago rapper, producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer Kanye West is always in the news. However, this is not a new phenomenon. Since the mid-2000s, the producer has made musical and verbal statements, and (on both fronts) they have always been fairly radical.
However, West’s rants are not always political; on many occasions, his tirades have been directed at other artists. In 2016 as Kanye was preparing to release his eighth studio album, The Life Of Pablo, he got into a bizarre and confusing altercation with Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa.
The short-lived but intense feud began with a tweet about the album made by West. The Life Of Pablo originally had the working title Waves. Taking to social media to comment on Kanye’s project, Wiz Khalifa tweeted about how it may be related to the “wavy movement.” A subculture pioneered by rapper Max B.
However, West did not like the insinuation that he was mimicking or copying another artist’s style. Taking to the platform, the Chicago rapper addressed and criticised the emcee in a rant comprised of more than 30 tweets.
This all came after Khalifa made a tweet stating “hit this KK and become yourself.” Kanye thought Wiz was tweeting about his ex-wife Kim Kardashian (although he wasn’t). Still, impulsively in typical Yeezy fashion, the producer saw red tweeting, “Oh n*ggaz must think I’m not petty cause I’m the best that’s ever made music.” Following this, Kanye told the Pittsburgh ‘Black And Yellow’ rapper, “Bro, first of all, you stole your whole shit from [Kid] Cudi.”
This came because of the letters KK, which is often a nickname for Kim Kardashian. Still, in the case of Wiz’s tweet, he was referring to Khalifa Kush, his own branded marijuana strain. After the Pittsburgh rapper most likely sent West a DM, Kanye tweeted, I’m happy that I now know that KK means weed… please excuse the confusion … now back to #WAVES.” He then posted, “good energy, positive energy.”
The entire online debacle was extremely odd but still very Kanye West. However, for many, it is impossible to forget because some of the posts the Chicago rapper made were highly toxic. With tweets writing Khalifa’s music off as “corny as f*ck”, and mocking Wiz’s relationship with Amber Rose and their child, it was scary. You can hear more about the confusing and brief feud in the video below.
