Kanye West has filed documents to legally change his name to “Ye.”
TMZ reports that the 44-year-old rapper submitted the paperwork with a California court this week. Under state law, he’ll be given a court date sometime in the next three months, at which point a judge will hear Kanye’s petition and decide whether to approve the name change.
Kanye has yet to publicly comment on the move, but this is not the first time he has flirted with a rebrand. In 2019, he said he had considered legally changing his name to “Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West” “until ‘yall understand exactly what it is.” Kanye did not follow through with that threat, but this time he’s gone as far to actually file a legal petition with the court. It’s now in the hands of a judge to decide whether one of the biggest names in pop culture can assume a new identity.
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The move also comes as fans continue to wait for Kanye’s new album, Donda, which is now a month past its original release date. The album is named after Kanye’s late mother, Donda West, which makes the timing of Kanye’s legal request especially peculiar.
On Thursday, Kanye is expected to further preview Donda with another listening event. Whereas the first two took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, this one will go down at Solider Field in Chicago. And by the looks of it, the set will include an exact replication of Kanye’s childhood Chicago home. As of now, however, this still no word on when Donda will receive a proper release.
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