Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s history has been more than fraught. While they are two completely different artists, they have crossed paths several times over the years. Due to a laundry list of complicated interactions between Swift and West, the two have not been on the best of terms. However, it looks like recently West has identified common ground between him and Swift and voiced this in an Instagram story.
The Instagram post comes as a surprise, as Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s last public interaction was years ago, and less than positive. In this post, however, he identifies with Swift in her plight to own her own music catalog. He references how his own master catalog is being bought without his consent as well:
The "You Belong with Me" singer signed with Big Machine Records when she was just a teenager. She recorded six studio albums with the label but signed with Republic Records in 2018 so she could own the rights to her own music. The same year, Big Machine sold the rights to the songstress' first six albums to Ithaca Holdings, which is owned by Scooter Braun -- who Swift had a negative relationship with. Not wanting to be bound by Braun’s control over her master catalog, she is in the process of re-recording her first six albums so that she can own all of her music. So clearly, she isn’t the only one upset about her lack of control over her own material.
This is a clear similarity between the two artists, Ye mentioning Taylor Swift on his social media is very notable. Their feud started in 2008 when Kanye West hopped on stage to interrupt her VMA acceptance speech. The two seemed to reconcile when Swift presented West with the Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs. However, this reconciliation was soured when West used the "August" singer's name in a derogatory way in his song, “Famous.” Swift was vocally upset about this, and West’s then-wife Kim Kardashian released a video showing Swift approved West’s usage of her name in the song. Years later, it came out that the video “evidence” was doctored and Swift was not fully aware of how her name would be used. The entire incident inspired Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation.
Kanye West’s use of social media as of late has been incredibly publicized and controversial. He has received backlash due to outbursts against Kim Kardashian and his former in-laws. He also fired shots at Pete Davidson while the comedian dated Kardashian.
However, this recent Instagram post seems like a different turn for the rapper. Instead of going after someone, he is finding a kinship with her through a shared experience. Maybe this is his way of reaching out to Taylor Swift making an attempt to heal old wounds. I’m not sure if Swift will be receptive, as she has said that her feud with West was emotionally damaging. However, Swift has famously reconciled with people in the past, so anything is possible. Maybe Swift could even inspire West to re-record his own master catalog. That would be pretty iconic.
Both of their fans will be anxiously awaiting any developments regarding these two but, in the meantime, Taylor Swift will be releasing her tenth studio album, Midnights, on October 21st. In addition, Jeen-Yuhs -- a documentary series about Kanye West’s rise to fame -- is currently streaming for Netflix subscribers.
