It’s official: Kanye West is now Ye.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court approved the rapper’s request to formally change his name from Kanye Omari West to just Ye, with no middle name or last name, according to Rolling Stone and Deadline. He filed the petition to change his moniker in August, citing ”personal reasons.”
The 44-year-old’s Instagram and Twitter account currently show his name as Ye, although his handle remains @kanyewest on both platforms.
His ex Kim Kardashian West and their four children — North West, 8, Saint West, 5, Chicago West, 3, and Psalm West, 2 — all bear his former surname. Kardashian West didn’t change her last name back to Kardashian when she filed for divorce in February.
Ye’s reps could not be reached for comment.
Ye, an abbreviation of his first name, is the rapper’s longstanding nickname that he used as early as 2012 in his hit single “Clique” featuring Jay-Z and Big Sean (“Yeah, I’m talking Ye”).
In 2018, the rapper, music producer and clothing entrepreneur announced on Twitter that he’s no longer “the being formally known as Kanye West … I am YE.” Some may refer to Ye as an alter ego, but West explained in another tweet: “Who or what is Kanye West with no ego? Just Ye.”
Ye also has a religious significance to him. West titled his eighth studio album “Ye,” which was released in 2018.
“I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means ‘you,’ “ West said during an interview with Big Boy in June 2018.
He continued: ”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.”
Ye’s name change is the latest shakeup for the former Chicagoan. He also recently put his ranch and business properties in northwestern Wyoming up for sale for $11 million. Ye moved from California to Wyoming in 2019.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Read more at usatoday.com
