Kanye West Granted Approval to Change Name to “Ye”
Photo by BFA / YeezyBack in August, in the midst of countless Donda listening events, Kanye West filed a name change with the Los Angeles courts to go by “Ye,” a nickname the Chicago rapper has gone by for some time now. Today (Oct. 18), the change was approved, as reported by multiple outlets, making his legal name Ye (yes, with no middle or last name).
This is just one of many changes West is currently going through, as his divorce with Kim Kardashian is being finalized and his Hollywood Hills home goes on sale for $3.7 million. He has also put up his properties in Wyoming up for sale for $11 million.
The change was preceded by his 2018 album also named ye, recorded in seclusion in the mountains of Wyoming. In 2019, West explained the reasoning for the title in an interview with Big Boy of Los Angeles-based radio station REAL 92.3:
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 went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye—just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are.
Revisit Paste’s coverage of Donda here.