Even in the chaos of celebrity name changes, few have rattled the cage quite like Ye (pronounced “yay”), a.k.a. Kanye West. This is why the internet was off to the races when legal filings in California recently revealed a mysterious “Ye Ye” as the guiding hand behind several of the artist’s companies. Had the rapper-turned-fashion mogul pulled another name-change stunt?
There’s no truth to the double moniker, a spokesperson told The New York Post. “There is no ‘Ye Ye,’” they wrote, decimating the rumor mill with a quick “No, but not.”
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It turns out it’s all because of a boring yet critical piece of paperwork. But when Ye’s chief financial officer, Hussain Lalani, tried to submit standard business forms for Yeezy Apparel and Yeezy Record Label, LLC, he confronted a standard tech impediment: the online form needed a first and last name.
This is a problem when your manager legally dropped his last name in 2021 and is now known by only one name: Ye.
Having no way to bypass it, I effectively pasted the name into both fields, so “Ye Ye” was what made it onto the official filings. What appeared to be a willful identity shift was a system doing as asked.
The minor clerical glitch caused a major buzz and confusion. But Ye is not changing names again. In 2021, he successfully transitioned from Kanye Omari West to “Ye” with the approval of a Los Angeles judge, a change he said was rooted in spiritual and philosophical beliefs.
Two years ago, in 2018, Ye referred to being formally known as Kanye West as “I am YE,” signaling fans that the change was indeed coming. He has since embraced the moniker, etching it onto his social media, branding, and business ventures.
The name “Kanye,” of Swahili origin, meaning “the only one” or “unique,” was a testament to his uniqueness and the boon of his individuality. But Ye looked at the swap as an opportunity to streamline, refine, and recalibrate how he shows up to the day, personally and professionally.
Though “Ye Ye” might seem like an infectious new alter ego or future album title in the making, it’s neither on his driver’s license nor in your head tracking data. But just a colorful byproduct of bureaucracy intersecting with celebrity minimalism.
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