For those who don’t know, because, like me, you probably didn’t care, Kanye West legally changed his name in 2018 to Ye, saying, “I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible. In the Bible it means you,” as his reason. He was completely wrong.

West’s controversy has only begun ramping up since then, such as when he announced his run for the U.S. presidency, his divorce with Kim Kardashian and wearing a “white lives matter” shirt. But recently, he has gotten much worse tweeting, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” and then also, “I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” He was banned the following day.

Within a month, West completely ruined his reputation. He’s also created a dangerous message within his community, which has split into people either in full support or completely against him. After his initial tweets and ban on Oct. 7, a group of neo-Nazi white supremacists acting in support of West hung anti-semetic banners over the 405 freeway in Los Angeles on Oct. 23 and, on Oct. 25, Adidas announced that it will cut ties with West.

Supporting his current content is unethical, considering any new songs he releases have references to his horrendous ideology, even if the beats are good. But I don’t see any problems with listening to his previous music, not just because the beat was good, but because the lyrics had positive messages. But West has changed so much these recent years that he’s practically a different person. Is it still ok to listen to West’s music given his current circumstances?

West releasing new music can also be seen as propaganda. He may end up releasing the best song he’s ever made, but it’s important to avoid it because if you’re saying things like “yeah but the song is fire, and I think we should separate art from the artist” you are supporting West. He went on an extremely antisemitic rant, said Nazis were good, said he liked Hitler, promoted holocaust denial, and then immediately released new music. It’s obvious that the music is propaganda, especially when the lyrics reference going defcon 3 on Jewish people.

One example of a famous singer getting into drama is R. Kelly. Despite selling music worldwide and winning Grammys, he was accused of having sexual relationships with minors and abusing his fans. It makes sense when a song he created was called “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number.” Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and his music had been boycotted by streaming services such as Spotify and Apple music. Most of his songs and albums were removed, namely the ones that represented his ideology, which makes sense.

Like many people have said, further restricting the platforms West is active on is the right move. Although West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts were locked because of antisemitic posts, they have now both been reactivated. Another platform West has been on is the Alex Jones podcast, where he said, “I see good things about Hitler also. This guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use every day as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good, and I’m done with that. I’m done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”

West has become a horrible person, and every new thing he says that sparks controversy is utter nonsense, to the point where four presidents (Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden) have called out his actions and words. Support for West needs to be ended: companies cutting brand deals, platforms he is on canceled, and the music he produces shunned.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Isaac Hsu at [email protected].