Kanye West Asks Court to Change His Name, Joins Other Insufferable Artists With One-Word Monikers

It takes a lot of moxie to become a one-word artist. And the artist formerly known as Kanye West is certainly full of it.

We say formerly because the man who’s been holding Donda hostage has decided to legally change his name to “Ye”. (As in, yay.) This means he is officially joining the ranks of Beyoncé and Drake as a single-name identity recognizable the world over.

Except, he kind of already did that.

Nobody gets confused when you say Kanye, wondering which Kanye you’re talking about. But the rapper, who is looking to cut ties with his past, wanted to go the extra mile with the single-syllable moniker, reinventing himself as the noise children make when the cake comes out at a birthday party.

All this follows on the heels of Kanye’s bizarre album release, where it looks like he’s proceeded to stadium tour an album that hasn’t even come out. After two listening parties in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, he recently held another event at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

Is it all a publicity stunt, a personal quest, or just something megalomaniacs do in their spare time? One thing’s for sure: People are still going to call the man Kanye.

The big question now (other than who the checks will be made out to) is, which side of the aisle will Kanye’s new identity fall on? On one side we have people like Adele, 2-Pac, and Prince who are adored for their talent and grace. On the other sits Coolio, Fergie, and Gotye.

Judging from his past tweets, Kanye is leaning more towards the latter. In 2018 he announced the name change, letting everyone know he was no longer “the being formally known as Kanye West. I am Ye.”

He further elaborated on his naming process in a radio interview where he said, “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’s good to know that even though the Chicago native has been born again, his pretentiousness never died.

Cover Photo: Pierre Suu (Getty Images)

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