Kanye “Ye” West is getting direct with the Swifties. The rapper is talking about Taylor Swift again as her devoted fanbase of Swifties appears to be hatching a plan to block him from a no. 1 debut on the charts.
West shared a screenshot of what appears to be a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) in which the user declares a “SWIFTIE EMERGENCY” while calling on their followers to support Beyoncé’s new single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
“Beyoncé’s new single ‘TEXAS HOLD ‘EM’ is challenging Kanye West for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100,” the post reads. “Let’s BUY AND STREAM ‘TEXAS HOLD ‘EM’ to block him from the top spot!!!”
The call-to-action comes after Ye released his new collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 1, over the weekend. Among tracks on the album, “Carnival” has caused a stir as it includes a line from West about Swift.
“When I said that I’m the new Jesus b***h I wasn’t even thinking about Taylor Swift,” West wrote in his Instagram caption on Wednesday. “That was a whole line before but I appreciate the free promo.”
West also said that fellow rapper Lil Wayne makes mention of Swift’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, on a follow-up to his latest album, Vultures 2.
“This album is actually super positive and fun, it’s all about triumphant,” West continued. “Last year was incredibly challenging for me, my wife, my children, friends and family. I’ve been banned from hotels, kicked out of companies, and not even allowed to eat in some restaurants. Everyone saw Vultures 1 get taken off of platforms to limit our first week numbers. This reminds me of the mistreatment of my people because of the color of our skin.”
He continued, “Remember I was on Taylor’s side when Scooter [Braun] bought her masters behind her back. She and Beyoncé are big inspirations to all musicians. We always say how both sell out tours and movies. Also, I’m sure I’ve been far more helpful to Taylor Swift’s career than harmful. To all Taylor Swift fans, I am not your enemy. Um, I’m not your friend either though LOL.”
West also addressed his experience at Super Bowl LVIII, after his rep publicly denied former NFL star Brandon Marshall’s allegation that Swift had the rapper kicked out of the game.
“I didn’t get kicked out of the Super Bowl,” West wrote on Wednesday. “We left our seats to go to YG’s box and see different friends. My wife had never been to a Super Bowl so I wanted to walk around and have a nice time. We had such a fun day.”
Vultures 1 is Ye’s first release since he drew widespread criticism and condemnation beginning in October 2022 for making several antisemitic remarks, including his alleged plan to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” In the fallout the followed, his business partnerships were terminated with GAP, Adidas, Balenciaga, Def Jam Records, CAA, and more. Additionally, his Instagram and Twitter (now X) accounts were restricted.
As for West’s complicated dynamic with Swift, that dates back to 2009 when the rapper famously crashed the stage and interrupted her acceptance speech during the MTV Video Music Awards to praise Beyoncé.
West and Swift appeared to have mended fences in 2015 when the pop star presented him with an award, but the relationship soured again the following year when West referenced her in his song “Famous.” After that, Swift publicly objected to his lyric about her and West’s then-wife, Kim Kardashian, leaked a secretly recorded phone call between the performers.
For her part, Swift emerged in 2017 with a blistering revenge track, “Look What You Made Me Do,” off her Reputation album. In December 2023, she called the incident a “fully manufactured frame job” in an interview with Time.
Now, on West’s “Carnival,” Swift’s name comes up again amid a pop culture-heavy verse that also includes direct mentions of Game of Thrones, Elon Musk, R. Kelly, Bill Cosby and Sean “Diddy” Combs, among other veiled references.
Meanwhile, Swifties and the Bey Hive are in sync as Swift and Beyoncé have publicly supported each other over the last year by showing up for each other’s concert films — The Eras Tour The Movie and Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé — in October and December, respectively.
“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without @beyonce‘s influence. The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale. 😇🙏🥹,” Swift posted on Instagram in October alongside a boomerang of herself and the “Single Ladies” singer.
On Sunday, Beyoncé surprised people by appearing in a Verizon Wireless commercial durating the Super Bowl, in which she tries to “break the internet” in a series of various high-profile stunts.
In a surprise twist, Beyoncé managed to accomplish her goal in real life by announcing that she’d be dropping new music at the end of the commercial — thus actually breaking the internet (so to speak) via a high-profile stunt.
After the commercial aired, Beyoncé took to Instagram to drop a teaser video for her follow-up to Renaissance, titled Act II, showing her driving a yellow taxi through dusty, rural Texas, set to a snippet of one of her new songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Since then, speculation has run rampantas to whether Swift might appear as a special guest on the album.
