Kanye West: He Doesn’t Care About Being a Nice Person, He Wants to Create High Level Art, Says Malik Yusef
Forbes recently announced that Kanye West is officially a billionaire. Last summer, the publication featured Ye on their cover, highlighting his success with his Yeezy brand. The brand has been elevated to something that could and has rival’s Nike’s Jordan Brand after parting ways from Nike following a $10 million deal with rival Adidas, according to Spin Magazine in 2013.
According to sneakerfreaker.com, West wanted Nike to change its likeness from the patent Swish to former President Barrack Obama, which they refuse to do. West also revealed that former Nike CEO Mark Parker would accept any of his attempts for a phone meeting.
“perfect’ but ‘not really going to change anything.’ He described his departure from Nike as ‘heartbreaking,’ but explained that the decision was made because Nike refused to pay him royalties for the sales of his own shoe. Instead, according to Kanye, the brand wanted to pay some of the proceeds to a charity of his choosing.
Kanye also stated that Nike CEO Mark Parker was unwilling to get on the phone with him and that the people at Nike didn’t understand why people liked Yeezys. By comparison, Kanye claimed to have the cell phone number for Adidas’ CEO, describing him as ‘someone who allowed me to build something.’”
However, Ye wasn’t happy with Forbes as well, because they didn’t label him a billionaire in last summer’s piece even though, according to Zack O’Malley Greenburg of Forbes.com.
“I showed them an $890 million receipt, and they still didn’t say ‘billionaire,’” he told an industry panel about something that no one at Forbes remembers.) In private, he was more biting. (A “disrespectful article,” he texted this week, that was “purposely snubbing me.”
He would lash out again publicly earlier this month when he didn’t see his name on Forbes annual billionaires list“You know what you’re doing,” he texted. “You’re toying with me, and I’m not finna lye [sic] down and take it anymore in Jesus’ name.” Up until recently, according to Greenburg, Forbes didn’t have enough documentation to label Ye, a billionaire on file. West directed members within his camp to provide the outlet with the information needed to look into Kanye Inc’s financials.
An affiliate of West’ label GOOD Music Malik Yusef was asked by The Hype Magazine if he thought Ye gets a bad rep.
“Kanye is not a good person; he doesn’t get a bad rep. He is not a good person, and I don’t think that’s his intent. So, don’t think that he cares about that. He doesn’t care. He cares about putting out high art, famous, and he cares about being rich,” said Yusef. “That is what he does. I don’t think he is trying to be a good person. He has had the opportunity to do that, but that is not what he wants to do. He doesn’t get a bad rap. That is how he wants to be preserved.”
Yusef has worked on numerous Kanye West albums such as The College Dropout, 808s & Heartbreak, Cruel Summer, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Landon Buford is an accomplished sports and entertainment journalist based in Richardson, Texas, with over a decade of experience covering the NBA, WNBA, NFL, WWE, MLB, and the entertainment industry. Known for delivering high-impact stories and headline-making interviews, Buford has earned a global audience through content that blends insider access with compelling storytelling.
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