There are no safe bets when it comes to Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The “Jesus Walks” rapper has managed to piss off just about every single organization and part of the US government. His raw and out-of-control thought process is too much for any news outlet to handle. In his newly released track, “Eazy” with fellow rapper The Game, Ye comes under fire from animal rights group PETA.
The group took offense to the rappers’ new artwork for the track which depicted a skinned monkey covered in blood against a red backdrop. Since the song dropped and began to gain traction, along with the artwork, social media platforms began to censor the image. The Game had his post taken down while Ye’s post remains up at the time of this writing.
PETA’s president Ingrid Newkirk talked about the nature of the image in an interview with Billboard.
“The photo is reminiscent of the monkeys PETA has found, sometimes heads, sometimes hands, sometimes the whole body, in meat markets around the world and it makes it clear that when you remove the fur you can’t miss that there’s a person in there, that they are fellow primates, and do not belong to us to abuse for any purpose, not in laboratories, roadside zoos, movies, or meat markets.”
There’s no way around it, the artwork does have a sense of barbaric tone to it. The image began trending on Twitter, where users were quick to call out the rappers for their tone-deafness. While PETA does have a valid point for their anger, many fans of Ye came to his to point out PETA’s own marketing. PETA’s social media channels are filled with graphic images and videos showcasing violence and abuse against animals. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, PETA.
Nevertheless, Ye doesn’t seem fazed by how PETA reacts as more attention has been drawn to his lyrics than anything else. Ye took aim at SNL cast member and rumored boyfriend of Kim Kardashian Pete Davidson. “God saved me from that crash/Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass (Who?),” Ye rapped on the track. It seems Ye also had trouble trying to get to his daughter Chicago West’s birthday party until rapper Travis Scott leaked the spot. After their breakup, it’s unclear where exactly Kim and Ye stand. Both are seeing other people (Ye dating model Julia Fox,) but seem to have seemingly lingering feelings. It seems both of their relationships are destined to flame out as the year goes on.
