Kanye West made a promise to help Taylor Swift secure full ownership over her master recordings. The 43-year-old rap artist plans to talk to his friend Scooter Braun, the current owner of the Grammy winner’s master records, about the issue.
Taylor and Kanye have a unique friendship which is characterized by a cycle of heated arguments followed by friendly interactions. Many refer to the two musicians as “frenemies”. The most recent feud was over Kanye’s song Famous released in February 2016 on The Life of Pablo album. In the midst of the song, Kanye raps, “I made that bi--- famous” which refers to the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards debacle. The dispute was over whether or not Taylor gave Kanye permission to use that lyric in the song. The argument got so heated that even Kim Kardashian, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, spoke out about it on Twitter. This disagreement has since blown over and Kanye wants to help his frenemy by speaking to Scooter Braun about the ownership of Taylor’s master recordings. Fans of the two musicians are wondering why Kanye suddenly wants to help Taylor.
This year, Taylor released a new album titled Folklore which coined a new name for her, the “Cardigan singer."
In 2019, Swift’s previous label, Big Machine Label Group, was purchased by Braun. As a result of the purchase, Braun obtained full ownership of the pop artist’s master recordings. “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years,” the Grammy award winner stated shortly after the acquisition was finalized. Taylor never wanted this to happen to her master recordings, but she had no control over the outcome.
During Kanye’s latest stint in the media, he discussed how the music industry needs to change their practices because musicians are harmed in the long run. “All artists need to be free and own their rights,” Kanye said. “Taylor Swift deserves that, just like everyone else. As I mentioned before, Scooter Braun is a friend and we’ll be having that discussion.”
The rap musician has endured negative experiences with recording contracts and ownership of music, just like Taylor. He publicly announced that he will not release any more music until his contracts with his publisher and label expire. The Yeezy designer also declared that he would help Swift with her battle to obtain full rights to her master recordings, as shown in his tweet below.
Kanye has been actively speaking out about issues in the music industry, check out some of his other recent tweets below.
When it comes to these two artists, history repeats itself. Every time they have a nasty argument, it’s followed by a friendly reconciliation. Now that the Famous lyric issue is behind them, Kanye wants to help Taylor. The rap musician knows Braun personally and saw an opportunity to help out a fellow artist while simultaneously making a bold statement about the music industry. After this wholesome gesture, what will the next feud be between Kanye and Taylor?
Source: US Magazine, Billboard, Taylor Swift Instagram, Kanye West Twitter