Carly Johnson (Dailymail.com), Melissa Koenig (Dailymail.Com)
Updated: July 10, 2024 00:44, July 10, 2024 18:16
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After 10 studio albums and 24 Grammy Awards, Kanye West is reportedly retiring from “professional music.”
News of the Flashing Lights hitmaker, 47,'s shocking retirement plans was revealed during a text message exchange with rapper Rich The Kid.
Rich The Kid, 31, uploaded a screenshot of a message he received from an iPhone contact named “Ye” to his Instagram Story.
The message from someone believed to be West, who legally changed his name from Kanye West to Ye in 2021, read, “I am retiring from professional music. I don't know what else to do.”
Rich then tried to convince the father of four to reconsider his decision, even citing the recent success of his album with rapper Ty Dolla Sign, “Vultures 1.”
“Retirement? Why? How? [people] “The music you and Ty and we made is the greatest imprint on culture to this day in 2024,” he wrote.
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Rich is featured on West and Tie's lead single, “Carnival,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart when it debuted in March.
The song was West's first number one hit in 13 years, the last being Katy Perry's 2011 single “ET.”
“Let's talk about V2 and starting over,” Rich continued. “The kids need your big bra fashion. Maybe you need some time to calm down, but not to retire.”
After news of Ye's retirement spread online, Rich deleted the screenshot from his Instagram Story.
This led to speculation among fans that he made the post to promote his upcoming album, “Life's A Gamble.”
Just a few hours later, Rich returned to Instagram to tease the release date and tracklist, which includes a new song with West.
West, who is rumored to have produced “Life's a Gamble” with collaborator Ty Dolla $ign, is featured on track 16, “Plain Jane.” “Carnival” is the final track on Rich's album.
Rich captioned the post, “LIFES A GAMBLE 7/19,” and also teased the album artwork to his nearly 12 million followers.
Fans expressed their frustration and confusion in the comments section, with one writing: “Simply put, did they lie for the sake of promotion?”
Many wanted to know “why” Rich removed the “retirement” reference.
West released his first rap EP, Get Well Soon…, in December 2002 on Jay-Z's now-defunct record label, Roc-A-Fella Records.
He released his critically acclaimed debut album, College Dropout, less than two years later in February 2004.
Since bursting onto the rap scene more than two decades ago, West has sold a staggering 160 million records worldwide and won 24 Grammy Awards.
He has had two diamond-certified songs: 2007's Stronger and 2011's N***as in Paris featuring Jay-Z, and all ten of his albums have been certified at least gold.
His tenth studio album, Vultures 1, debuted at number one upon its February 2024 release.
This is a collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign as part of the hip-hop duo ¥$.
West has previously hinted that his next album, Vultures 2, is in the works.
The rumors surrounding West's retirement from music come amid the rapper's numerous legal woes, mostly related to his crumbling Yeezy empire.
Last week, a shocking new lawsuit was filed alleging that West and his new wife, Bianca Censoli, 29, sent pornography to members of Yeezy's staff, including minors.
The federal lawsuit, filed in California, alleges that Censari, 29, sent links to “hardcore” sexual material to employees after her husband announced the launch of his adult film business, “Yeezy Porn,” in late April.
The company claimed the videos were available to an underage employee, but did not name her as a defendant in the lawsuit, instead simply used the story to illustrate the working conditions at the YZYVSN streaming service app.
Sensari later denied the allegations through West's former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, who told DailyMail.com that he had permission to speak on West's behalf.
“We have been authorized by Bianca to emphatically state that any allegations that she has shown or caused minors to view pornographic material are disturbing, disgusting, abhorrent and completely false,” the statement said.
In a statement on Monday, the 39-year-old British commentator denied the allegations against him in the federal lawsuit, which accuses him and Ye of engaging in “forced labor and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Yiannopoulos slammed the allegations, calling them a “larger leap of the imagination than 'Lord of the Rings'” and claiming they were made by an unauthorized party at YZYVSN.
“The tragic, desperate, attention-seeking Yeezy aspirant behind this terrible, disgusting lie – Shemar DaCosta – does not and will not have access to any information relating to Ye, his family, Yeezy, or the company,” Yiannopoulos said.
DaCosta, known in Yeezy circles as “Hotep Susan” for her theatrical and absurd racist comments, falsified her entire employment history at Yeezy on her LinkedIn profile, which is the most egregious and egregious lie imaginable.
“He claimed to be the lead developer for Yeezy. He has never worked at Yeezy. Take it from me. There's no way he'll ever get a job at this company after telling such horrible lies about House of Lady.”
“The reason DaCosta's absurd allegation that he showed Yeezy porn to minors is not true and cannot be true is simple: Yeezy porn does not exist.”
“I found this out by falling on my sword and quitting it.”
“All I have done since then, as the massive amount of letters attest, is to get these app developers paid,” he continued, defending himself against claims that the developers were not being paid for their work.
“Anyone who claims otherwise, including many in the media, is either lazy or simply a dishonest buffoon uncritically repeating false lies derived from a lawsuit that takes a bigger leap of the imagination than 'Lord of the Rings.'”
He also slammed claims that the company segregates employees by race, calling Discord chat rooms “slaves” and the “new slaves.”
“Secret white chat rooms? No, the other team just tried harder than you did,” Yeezy's former chief of staff said of DaCosta.
“Hostile work environment? How can that be? You're not employed. Underage workers working illegally? Give me a break.”
“The only minors being taken advantage of are the poor fools who got dragged into this lawsuit. They have no idea what a web of lies their names are attached to,” he argued.
“If anyone is taking advantage of children, it’s Shemar DaCosta and his goofy Instagram lawyer Ben Rocker, whose legal specialty appears to be gullible African-Americans with questionable causes of action,” Yiannopoulos concluded.
“You should both be ashamed. If you're not ashamed now, you will be soon.”
Yiannopoulos also included posts from X that support his claim that the lawsuit is without merit.
Several people wrote that Yiannopoulos was trying to get app developers to pay up, with one man who called himself a “Yeezy Developer Waiting to Get Paid” saying, “Yiannopoulos is the only (former) employee who is trying his hardest to get us to pay and going above and beyond.”
“This lawsuit has only made things worse for everyone,” the post read.
Another person who described himself as the app's lead developer agreed.
“And sue him [because you] “To say you didn't get a job offer from them or make up other lies is insanity,” he wrote.
The lawsuit alleges that West and Yiannopoulos hired an international development group made up of several Black members, many of whom were minors, some as young as 14.
They then fostered an allegedly racist work environment and repeatedly made false promises about wages and hours.
The company alleges that Yiannopoulos promised a group of developers $120,000 if they completed the app, agreed to working terms and didn't complain.
But Ye then allegedly ordered all employees to sign non-disclosure agreements and threatened to fire the minors if they did not.
The two also allegedly asked the minors to sign “volunteer” contracts.
Since then, Ye's white supervisor reportedly used derogatory and racist language, creating a hostile work environment.
They reportedly harassed team members based on their age, race, gender, sexual orientation and nationality.
Workers were reportedly forced to work through the night without pay or sleep.
The plaintiffs were allegedly threatened with having their wages garnished if they did not agree to work long hours without breaks.
But even after the team completed one of the apps and sent it to Ye on May 1, the lawsuit alleges, he never paid him, prompting the team to file a lawsuit seeking unpaid wages and overtime, as well as damages for emotional distress.
DailyMail.com has reached out to West for comment.
