Hip-Hop Reacts to Kanye West Showing Support to President Trump
Kanye West has been a fan favorite for quite some time now, and has spent a good chunk of that time at the forefront of controversy, and fanning the flames on Twitter. Today (April 25), is a huge day on social media for ’Ye, as he has effectively doubled down on his support of current President Donald Trump.
Originally known for his image as an extremely-talented every man and a people's champ of sorts. Kanye's turn towards President Trump is shocking to a good percentage of his core fans and his peers. His first bout of public support for Donald Trump came in 2016. At a San Jose concert, shortly after Trump won the presidency in 2016, Kanye stated that he would have voted for the "MAGA Man." He got booed in the arena, and plenty of his fans disapproved of his "confession."
Last week, Kanye returned to Twitter after a long hiatus and shared a bunch of his thoughts, from designs he's working on for his clothing and shoe lines, splashes of insight and other things on his mind. This week, things took a turn where he evidently told Hot 97 radio host Ebro Darden that he has love for the Trumpster.
It all came to a head today, when Kanye tweeted a picture of himself with music executives Lyor Cohen and Lucien Grange in a "Make America Great Again" ("MAGA") hat, with the caption "we got love." ’Ye also posted a picture of a Trump autographed "MAGA" hat. Ebro, who was part of the strange Hot 97 interview with Kanye earlier this week, went on Instagram and called ’Ye "Lost," while sharing a quote from Lyor Cohen about why the three were together in the "MAGA" photo.
"Lucian, Lyor & Lost," Ebro wrote. "Note: Lyor just called to say “I JUST WENT TO LISTEN TO MUSIC & see Kanye. He is someone I care about. I don’t abandon people.... Please let people know this. THE MUSIC IS INCREDIBLE! Please let people know that with great music comes, great pain & stress.”
Unsurprisingly, rappers and hip-hop artists from all walks of life weren't as forgiving. "Make Kanye Black Again," tweeted Smino, along with a photo of Kanye's "MAGA" hat with a Trump autograph. "Kanye on Lil B level now," Iamsu! wrote on Twitter. "I wanna see YOU take off the #MAGA hat....," added Masta Ace.
While some rappers called out Kanye directly, others used subliminals, seemingly reacting to Kanye's Trump support. "'These are our heroes' - @nas," J. Cole tweeted, referencing a Nas quote. "False Idols," Jaden Smith tweeted. "We Need To Go Forward Not Backwards."
Check out Kanye donning the controversial "MAGA" hat and the rappers' reactions in the gallery below.
See Rappers' Reactions to Kanye West Showing Support for President Trump