To the distress of music journalists everywhere, or just me, Ye recently changed the name of his album title from Swish to Waves. Though he was probably prompted by Kim’s inability to find an emoji that represents the word swish (while there are plenty of wave emoji), your boy Ye was accused this afternoon of jacking Harlem rapper Max B’s style, which is known as “wavy.” And who was the Marcia Clark to j’accused Ye? None other than your favorite Sesame Skid Row resident Wiz Khalifa.
Ye did not take it well.
After imploring Ye to change the title back to Swish, Khalifa thought he’d done his due diligence. But he didn’t realize that 2016 is the Year of Petty, and no one has further embraced that more than Ye. Wiz dropping the initials KK — Khalifa Kush, if you know what he’s talking about; potentially Kim Kardashian if you don’t — didn’t help matters.
Ye let out a barrage of tweets dragging Khalifa’s sound (“jacked from Cudi”) and the quality of his music in general.
Khalifa low-key shades Ye’s street cred when he points out that “KK” is actually weed, but Ye was on a roll and he couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop.
Ye moved on to critiquing Khalifa’s choice in romantic partners, the cat on a hot tin roof otherwise known as Amber Rose, Ye’s nemesis forever and all time.
The reasoning behind this requires a Zach Morris sidebar, so let’s have one:
Once upon a time, Kanye West dated Amber Rose. They broke up. Kanye wrote the album My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy about Amber. Amber dated Wiz Khalifa and eventually married him. They had a son, Sebastian Taylor Thomaz. Kanye married internet entrepreneur Kim Kardashian, the sister of Khloé Kardashian. Khloé Kardashian banged French Montana. Amber is friends with Blac Chyna. Blac has a child with Tyga, who is currently involved with Kylie Jenner. Kylie is an Instagram model of legal age, but in February 2015 she was only 17. Amber hopped on the radio to suggest that maybe Tyga should date someone his own age. Khloé tweeted that Amber should mind her own business (as if being talked about isn’t the highest form of Kardashian currency). Both women got into a back-and-forth about sex tapes and stripper poles until Amber rang the goddamn alarm and tweeted #DONTPANIC — which was not merely a suggestion that Khloé cool it, but also the name of a 2014 single by Khloé’s ex … FRENCH MONTANA.
This double-edged insult gave the internet the gift of a new “Bye, Felicia” or “You mad?” to tweet at sparring partners and passive-aggressively end a conversation. But the cruel irony is that it will never have the effect that it had on Khloé, since the remark only takes on its withering double entendre when lobbied at someone who’s had sexual intercourse with French Montana. Kanye slut-shamed Amber in an interview after this fight, saying someone would need “30 showers” after dating her. Amber clapped back. Kanye is still talking about Amber in 2016, years after they broke up. Meanwhile, her best friend Blac is now dating Rob Kardashian, who has turned against his sisters.
Now, getting back to the fight. Ye continued to drag Amber’s name through the mud, which suggests that this Twitter melee wasn’t about Khalifa at all, but actually about Amber. He is Hand That Rocked the Cradle obsessed with her. He’s the Ali Larter to her Idris in Obsessed. He’s moments away from boiling her bunny. I mean, in the midst of embracing the petty, Ye managed to accentuate how cool he thinks Khalifa’s fashion choices are. This wasn’t about Khalifa.
Lest he think he could get away with mentioning Amber’s name, Ye’s ether of Khalifa was short-lived when Amber rose from the ashes like a Phoenix and charred him to a crisp.
He should probably just call his forthcoming album Amber, but I suppose Waves will do.
