Artist currently known as Kanye West files to legally change his name to ‘Ye’

Hear ye, hear ye… Kanye Omari West would like to henceforth be known as the artist Ye.

This week, the 44-year-old rapper legally applied to change his name, filing the paperwork in California. According to People, West explained his decision for the change is for “personal reasons,” but he provided no other explanation. Now it’s up to a judge to sign off on the petition.

Back in 2018 when West first brought up his new stage name (in conjunction with his 2018 album, also named Ye), he revealed he’s drawn to the religious significance of the word.

“I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible; and in the Bible, it means 'you,'" West told radio host Big Boy at the time.

"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 confusion, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are.”

If you go back further, West has been using the abbreviated version of his name since 2012, when he dropped the single “Clique” featuring Jay-Z and Big Sean. Today, he’s listed as Ye on all of his official social media accounts, despite his handles remaining @KanyeWest.

Some might say the timing of this official request is curious given the year the rapper has had. As many know, the past 18 months have included a short-lived run for the presidency, ongoing mental health issues, a divorce from Kim Kardashian, unusual behaviour surrounding his album release, an escalation in his feud with Drake and recently, a reported split from model Irina Shayk.

It's also interesting that Kanye is dropping most of his given name when Kim Kardashian West reportedly won't be dropping the "West" once their divorce is finalized. Sources close to the couple told TMZ that Kim wants to continue to have the same name as her four children – North, Psalm, Chicago and Saint – who are all Wests. 

She also reportedly "fully supports his desire" to go exclusively by Ye and "thinks people will still recognize him as Kanye West" despite the name change. 

The rapper is also preparing to launch his anticipated tenth studio album, Donda. He is expected to hold the third listening party for the album on Aug. 26 at Soldier Field in Chicago. With each listening party, fans have hoped he would finally reveal the album’s true drop date, but so far, that hasn’t happened.

Donda, named for West’s late mother who died in 2007 at the age of 58 from plastic surgery complications, was originally supposed to hit in July 2020. It’s now available for pre-sale on Apple Music with a drop date of Aug. 27, but West fans have been down that path before and aren’t holding their breath.  

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