If there’s one thing that Kanye West knows how to do, it’s create. Now, one of the rap game’s most prolific creators is back to creating music and controversy.
On Tuesday, West held a live listening event in Miami in support of his upcoming album, “Vultures,” with Ty Dolla $ign. They were joined onstage by collaborators including Offset, Kodak Black and Chris Brown.
But there was one featured artist who stood out among them all: West’s 10-year-old daughter, North.
The child of West and former partner Kim Kardashian jumped on the microphone to perform her verse on one of her dad’s new songs. “I love it here, we gonna take over the year for another year, it’s your bestie, Miss Miss Westie, don’t try to test me, it’s gonna get messy, it’s gonna get messy, just, just bless me,” she rapped in front of a fully engaged crowd.
Warm moments featuring his young daughter aside, the “Runaway” artist courted controversy at one point in his performance by donning a hood that came to a high point. It was black, rather than white, but was obviously reminiscent of the hoods worn by the Ku Klux Klan.
This wasn’t the first time West had evoked KKK imagery. He released a single in 2013 titled “Black Skinhead,” which was stylized as “BLKKK SKKKN HEAD.”
On top of the hate and bloody history that the garb symbolizes, such a wardrobe choice only serves to amplify other inflammatory choices by West — such as antisemitic remarks he has shared repeatedly over the last few years.
West was first banned on Instagram in 2022 after he shared a screenshot of a text he sent fellow rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. In the message, he claimed that Combs was being controlled by Jewish people. West sent the text after Combs questioned his “White Lives Matter” T-shirt.
The “Donda” rapper then took his comments to Twitter, threatening to “go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” The post ignited backlash and resulted in a lock of West’s account.
His continued antisemitism led to losing deals and contracts with myriad brands, including Gap, Adidas, Balenciaga and T.J. Maxx, among others.
As part of his tirade, West reasserted the antisemitic trope that Jewish people run the media and later suggested a Jewish conspiracy led to his being diagnosed with a mental illness.
In December 2022, West appeared on alt-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ talk show “InfoWars” and said he saw “good things” about Adolf Hitler, brazenly adding, “I like Hitler.”
Last month, West gave a surprise performance in Dubai in which he rapped antisemitic lyrics . Videos of the performance made the rounds on social media, with a particular focus on West continuing his more than yearlong trend of such rhetoric. In the clip shared in an Instagram story, he can be heard rapping the lines, “How am I antisemitic? I just f— a Jewish b—.”
