Kanye West Fans Sound off on His ‘Ye’ Name Change

Kanye West announced a major name change on Saturday, but it was met mostly with yawns from his legions of Twitter followers.

West posted around mid-morning on Saturday that he plans to go by “Ye” from now on rather than his full name, full Kanye West. He has used this nickname many times over the years, even naming his most recent album Ye back in June. However, something about Saturday’s post smacked of significance, particularly with all the big events coming up in the rapper’s career.

“The being formally known as Kanye West,” the tweet read. After a double line break, West added: “I am YE.”

The first several pages’ worth of replies to this tweet were unrelated: they simply begged West to release the new album he promised to fans on Saturday. West has been teasing a release called Yandhi, another play on his own name, combining “Ye” with “Gandhi,” for several weeks. A few days ago, he tweeted that the album would be out on Saturday night, and fans could not wait for the big release.

Others tried to correct West, assuming that he meant to write “formerly” rather than “formally.” This would more closely match the Prince name-change that many assumed he was referencing. However, there were some followers saying that West had made the change intentionally, implying that his full name is formal, while he now intends to be informal with his fans and followers.

Still other fans replied with admonishments for West. They felt that a cosmetic name change was a waste of the rapper’s time, energy and platform. West has been widely derided by his fan base this year after voicing his support for President Donald Trump, and appearing publicly in a “Make American Great Again” hat. He did the same in ads for his performance on Saturday Night Live, and many fans want to see him repent through charity or activism.

“Why are you allowed to be a person,” one person wondered. “Do some good and help the less fortunate, instead of changing Your name to letters.”

West is set to kick of the season for Saturday Night Live as the first musical guest. According to series creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels, he was chosen to replace Ariana Grande at the last minute, after the singer dropped out.

West will be joined by host Adam Driver on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.