Kanye "Ye" West presented his YZY SZN 9 collection in Paris with the rapper and models wearing "White Lives Matter" slogans.

He's running

Kanye West certainly knows how to cause a stir. On Monday, the 45-year-old rapper presented his YZY SZN 9 collection in Paris wearing a black shirt with the slogan "White Lives Matter." The front of the shirt featured the Pope's face.

Several models in the presentation wore various versions of the same design, according to videos posted on social media. Conservative pundit Candace Owens attended the surprise show and wore the same shirt, but in white.

  • Ziege_Bock [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I don't think Kanye was ever really "all there," but it seems like he's been decidedly off the meds since his mother died. He's likely going to be doing erratic shit like this indefinitely, and I seriously doubt he wore this shirt with the intention of defending or perpetuating white supremacy.

    If you want to know his actual political beliefs, there's that interview he gave to Forbes in 2020

    here's an excerpt:

    “A lot of times just like political parties they feel all Blacks have to be Democrat. This man, Joe Biden, said if you don’t vote for me, then you are not Black. Well, act like we didn’t hear that? We act like we didn’t hear that man say that? That man said that. It’s a rap. We gonna walk, all the people. Jay-Z said it best. For the other candidates, I just gracefully suggest y’all bow out—Trump and Biden, gracefully bow out. It’s God’s country, we are doing everything in service to God, nobody but God no more. I am in service of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and I put everything I get on the line to serve God.”

    And of course, the paragraph entitled "On the Wakanda management model,":

    “A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House…That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans—I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien-level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda . . . like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine—like big pharma—we are going to work, innovate, together. This is not going to be some Nipsey Hussle being murdered, they’re doing a documentary, we have so many soldiers that die for our freedom, our freedom of information, that there is a cure for AIDS out there, there is going to be a mix of big pharma and holistic.”

    • Lussy [any, hy/hym]
      ·
      2 years ago

      A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House…That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans—I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien-level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda . . . like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine—like big pharma—we are going to work, innovate, together. This is not going to be some Nipsey Hussle being murdered, they’re doing a documentary, we have so many soldiers that die for our freedom, our freedom of information, that there is a cure for AIDS out there, there is going to be a mix of big pharma and holistic.”

      :jesse-wtf:

      • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I don't know the full context. But at best I think he's saying there's some kind of magical technology secrets the US government is hiding and a mass movement should seize those and create a new society based on learning that hidden information

        it sounds like he's trying to rephrase certain things I've heard in the black conservative sphere, like the emphasis on information and secret medical innovations.

    • corgiwithalaptop [any, love/loves]M
      ·
      2 years ago

      like he’s been decidedly off the meds since his mother died.

      I'm not an expert on Kanye but I thought this was common knowledge since like 2012?

      • Ziege_Bock [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I think so too, but people keep on talking about Kanye West as if he's not unmedicated and having manic and erratic episodes, so I'm going to keep bringing it up. This entire comment section is people talking about how he's got garbage ideas and politics because he wore this shirt, which is besides the point when he's not conforming to standards which most would generalize as "sane". I'm not saying that in a preoperative or judgmental sense, just to state that it's a bit unfair to judge him for his actions or statements when he arguably is impaired by a mental condition.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Politics is insane and Kanye is insane.

      But to say his politics are good, you really need to ignore the people he surrounds himself with