From Kanye to Ye

Ye (pictured with his son Saint) announced on Twitter that he has changed his name from Kanye West.
Ye (pictured with his son Saint) announced on Twitter that he has changed his name from Kanye West. PHOTO: USA TODAY

American rapper Kanye West appears to have a new name and his announcement on Twitter that he will be now known as Ye has quickly caught on with social media users.

"The being formally (sic) known as Kanye West. I am YE," he tweeted last Saturday, ahead of his appearance on American television comedy show Saturday Night Live.

West, 41, has yet to elaborate on his apparent name change, though he has reportedly used the nickname Ye for several years.

In May, he had released an album with the same name.

West, who is married to reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, was slated to release his latest studio album, Yandhi, on Saturday.

On the live show, West performed the single I Love It with rapper Lil Pump, as well as a new song with singer Teyana Taylor titled We Got Love.

Fans and social media users have shown mixed reactions to West's cryptic Twitter reveal.

SPH Brightcove Video
Rapper Kanye West, who says he will now go by ‘Ye’, remained onstage after performing on ‘Saturday Night Live’ to deliver a pro-Trump speech while wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat.

"Whatever, Kanye," said one Twitter user.

"Prince did it better," another added, referring to the late American pop music superstar.

Some were puzzled about how to pronounce the name, while others were more tickled by the fact that Kanye had apparently misspelled the word "formerly".

Overnight, the Twitter post received over 7,000 replies, 169,000 likes and 32,000 retweets.

West would not be the first musician who has changed his name.

American rapper Snoop Dogg was once Snoop Lion, and rapper Diddy was known in various stages as P. Diddy, Puffy and B. Love.

Many celebrities have also gone by just one name, including Sting, Madonna and Adele.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 01, 2018, with the headline From Kanye to Ye. Subscribe