Kanye West Returns: Dissecting His Controversial Last Three Years

After countless delays and reworkings, Kanye West finally released Vultures 1 on February 9th, returning himself and collaborator Ty Dolla $ign back to the forefront of Hip-Hop. Vultures 1—the first installment of a planned trilogy—has received high attention for its unique beats, popular features, and most prominently—its extreme lyrics. This album addresses the last three years of Kanye’s life, which has been a tumultuous ride for him and his fans. But if you’re not familiar with his divorce, antisemitism, and new wife, this article will keep you up with the ex-Kardashian.

Ending over six years of marriage, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West finalized their divorce on March 2nd, 2022, agreeing to split custody of their children and division of assets. While at the time this seemed like every other Hollywood power couple's divorce, things soon spiraled out of control, with Kanye attacking Kim and her new boyfriend—Pete Davidson. Often referring to Davidson as “Skete” on his Instagram, Kanye released numerous threatening and hateful posts about Davidson, even threatening to “beat his a**” on his single Eazy. After posting photos of his and Kardashian’s private text messages on Instagram, Kanye finally relented after Kim announced she and Davidson had split—with many fans speculating that West’s dangerous antics were the cause. Since then, Kanye and Kim have somewhat repaired their relationship, successfully co-parenting their four children with only minor public disagreements including the choice of their kids’ schooling, clothing, and social media presence.

After his divorce, Kanye immediately jumped back into the dating pool, briefly dating supermodel Irina Shayk and actress Julia Fox. Despite being in relationships, Kanye still pursued Kim Kardashian, sending her a truckload of roses and singing about her in a leaked song, Back To Me, which was later a part of Vultures 1. But in early 2023, Kanye ended his courtship with Kardashian, announcing via Instagram that he had married Australian architect Bianca Censori, a former employee of West’s fashion brand, Yeezy. Early in their relationship, the couple drew attention from Censori’s risque and inappropriate outfits. In interviews, Kanye claimed he was behind Censori’s style, sparking criticism from multiple women’s activists who claimed Censori was being “repressed” and “abused”. 

These claims did not come at a good time for West, as he was also receiving backlash for his numerous anti-Semitic comments, including his posts on X saying he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people.” These hateful remarks ended up being his last straw, as he was dropped from his Adidas and Gap partnerships, while also shutting down his sports management LLC and his school, Donda Academy. In addition, his Twitter and Instagram accounts were suspended. In later interviews, Kanye claimed he lost $2 Billion as a result, and he has not appeared on the Forbes list of billionaires ever since. 

While West addresses some of these controversies on his new album, most critics say that he has done too much damage, and shouldn’t be lifted back up to superstardom like he was in years before. Despite this, many famous rappers who had initially cut ties with West expressed their support, with his former protege Travis Scott even bringing West out during some of his concerts. In addition, West’s album has had extreme success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200. While fans await Kanye’s next steps and his proposed sequel to Vultures 1, the rest of the world can only wait and see what trouble Hip-Hop’s most iconic artist gets himself into next.