The rapper, 47, has become infamous for his grandiose statements in recent years. From attempting to run for president back in 2020 and having random outbursts on social media, it would appear that Ye has been trying to move on from being known as a rapper and more of a ‘modern artistic genius’.
And it would seem this reinvention has even impacted how he presents himself in the visual media.
Ever noticed that Kanye doesn’t ever smile? (Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
West wouldn’t be the first celebrity to prefer to frown into the camera, after all, most of us would be annoyed by constantly having flash going off in our faces, however it would seem that his aversion to smiling comes from something more than just a dislike for having his photo taken.
Back in 2015, the rapper opened up on managing his image during The Daily Front Row’s Fashion Los Angeles Awards back in 2015, explaining how he came to the decision after looking at photographs taken in the 1800s while working on his album Yeezus.
“Back when I was working on Yeezus, I saw this book from the 1800s and it was velvet-covered with brass and everything,” he explained (via E! News).
“I looked at all these people’s photos and they look so real and their outfits were incredible and they weren’t smiling.
“People, you know the paparazzi, always come up to me, ‘Why you not smiling?’ and I think, not smiling makes me smile,” he continued.
He’s previously explained why (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
“When you see paintings in an old castle, people are not smiling cause it just wouldn’t look as cool.”
However it’s probably not worth telling the rapper the reason people rarely smiled in early photography was a result of practicality rather than aesthetic. Unlike modern cameras which can capture dozens of photos in seconds, early photography was hard to come by and required the sitter to stay still for an extended period of time – which meant it was simply easier to hold a straight face rather than smile
However we can definitely agree with the Gold Digger singer that keeping a stoic expression certainly looks cooler than baring your teeth at the camera.
West isn’t on his own when it comes to celebrities refusing to smile either, with singer turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham being famous for her poker face in photos.
Victoria Beckham has also opened up on her infamous poker face (Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
Explaining the reason why during an interview with the Telegraph, Beckham explained that she had felt self-conscious about how she looked.
“It was because of my skin that I became very careful about what I ate,” she explained. “And yeah, probably I did look stern in a lot of pictures, but I was so uncomfortable.
“Was there a time when I used to scroll through all the comments about me? Probably. But now I just don’t have the time.”
Featured Image Credit: (Lars Niki/Corbis via Getty Images/ Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Topics: Celebrity, Kanye West, Weird, Art
Brenna Cooper
Kanye West says he knew one lyric he wrote would make him famous worldwide
The controversial rapper claimed he knew the moment that he was going to become an icon
Kanye West has revealed the one lyric he wrote that he knew straight away would thrust him to fame.
The controversial music artist, who now goes by Ye, has not been shy in the spotlight following his rise to fame in the mid-2000s.
West established himself as a successful producer and rapper in the industry, starting his own record label before eventually venturing out into the fashion world with his famous Yeezy collaboration with Adidas.
Since those days though, the 47-year-old’s political views have taken the headlines, with moves such as supporting Donald Trump and making anti-Semitic comments not making him the public’s favourite figure.
His relationship, marriage and divorce from Kim Kardashian was also put under the microscope but apparently, the Atlanta-born artist saw all of the attention coming from a mile away.
In 2019, West revealed in an interview with James Corden as part of their ‘300,000-foot Carpool Karaoke’, while on the way to his Sunday Service choir, that he knew the moment his life would change for good.
The revelation came while he was in a Virgin Megastore on an escalator, weirdly enough.
Kanye West is convinced that his fame is all down to one lyric. (Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
He explained: “I remember saying, ‘Breathe in this moment, because this will be the last moment I can walk around in public’.
“Because I had written the line, ‘She got a light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson/ Got a dark-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson’.”
The ‘Gold Digger’ artist said that he knew after that lyric was released, he knew that he ‘wouldn’t be able to walk the streets for the rest of [his] life’.
Corden then asked if he really was that ‘confident’ that the song the line was in, ‘Slow Jamz’ featuring Jamie Foxx, would be so successful.
Ye responded saying: “In the success of that line. I was like, ‘I will be famous after this line’.”
The 2003 track was released through Atlantic and Roc-A-Fella Records, and is originally a song by rapper Twista, featuring Foxx and West.
It was the first chart-topping tune for all three artists, as it peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 soon after its release.
On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number three and on the US’s end-of-the-year chart in 2004, it came in at 16th place.
It looked like Ye was right, but there was more to come.
West has not looked back since. (Paul Hawthorne/Getty Image)
In 2004, the song was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 4th BET Awards. In 2005, at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards, it was put forward for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
Alongside songs such as ‘Gold Digger’, ‘Stronger’, and ‘Runaway’, ‘Slow Jamz’ is still widely seen as one of Ye’s best and most popular hits to this day.
Maybe this Kanye West guy knows a thing or two about music.
Featured Image Credit: Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images / Paul Hawthorne/Getty Image
Topics: Kanye West, Music, Fashion, Celebrity
Joshua Nair
Kanye West responds to backlash after posting semi-naked video of wife in nightclub
Ye has broken his silence
Kanye West has broken his silence after posting controversial videos of his wife, Bianca Censori.
Ye, 46, took to his Instagram account to vent his frustrations at fans who have been criticising him for sharing photos and videos of 29-year-old architect, Bianca.
Kanye and Bianca reportedly married in December 2022, just months after the rapper’s divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalised.
But over the last few months, fans have become concerned over some of the couple’s controversial posts online.
Just this week, Bianca was spotted almost naked in a see-through raincoat while heading to a studio session with Kanye.
Meanwhile, in September last year, the couple were banned from a Venice water taxi company after explicit images of themselves onboard were released.
In one photo, Bianca looked to be crouching between the star’s legs, with the rapper appearing to be without his trousers.
Most recently, Kanye shared a clip of him and Bianca at a Super Bowl party this weekend.
In the clip, Bianca can be seen walking through a nightclub in a barely-there outfit as Kanye captioned the post: “Still the King.”
Instagram/@kanyewest
Fans were pretty horrified over the video, with one commenting: “I need you to stop this I can’t be having this in my feed.”
While another said: “Kanye, this needs to stop bro.”
And a third added: “Bro how many times am I gonna see his naked wife every time I open this app?”
While others were unsure why Kanye had shared the clip three times.
But taking to his platform in response, the rapper hit back at the haters.
Instagram/@kanyewest
“I posted my wife three times on purpose,” he told his followers.
“So, what I’m saying is I delivered the album and people still in my comments talking about, ‘why are you posting your wife?.’ Because she makes me happy.
“That’s why y’all happy with the music because I’m happy. You understand?
“So don’t ever say nothing negative. If you don’t like my page and don’t like what I’m posting then go f**k yourself. Seriously.
“Leave me, leave the King the f**k alone. I don’t care bro. I’m [going] to post my wife as much as I want.
“Go post your wife on your f**king Instagram.”
He also wrote in the caption: “Ima post my wife as much as I want bro It makes me happy.
“Some people don’t want you to be happy They want you to make them happy I decided to make myself happy and I’m happy with that.”
Featured Image Credit: kanyewest/Instagram
Topics: Celebrity, Kanye West
Lucy Devine
Kanye West denies claims Taylor Swift had him ‘kicked out’ of Super Bowl after tactical stunt
An NFL star claims Swift shot Ye’s plan down
Kanye West has hit back at claims he was booted out of the Super Bowl stadium by Taylor Swift.
No, the year is not 2009 or 2016, it is 2024 and a new feud story between the pair has been ignited.
Sunday’s (11 February) Super Bowl was, as always, a celebrity-packed event with a whole lot of attention on Swift thanks to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce.
And while she was joined in the Kelce box by the likes of Blake Lively, Ice Spice and Lana Del Rey, there are rumours another big name was meant to be sat very nearby.
There’s claims West bought himself seats right in front of Swift’s booth which obviously, would’ve been pretty awkward.
The ‘Jesus Walks’ rapper and ‘Midnights’ singer have long had tension, with West’s infamous speech-crashing at the 2009 VMAs when he thought Beyoncé should’ve won instead of Swift.
And in 2016, he released the track ‘Famous’ where he said: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b*tch famous.”
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
An interview with Swift in TIME last year, revealed she felt the public fallout was like a ‘career death’ and the whole thing took her ‘down psychologically’.
So, with existing feuds between the pair, former NFL player Brandon Marshall claimed on The Paper Route podcast that he’d heard West purposely bought seats right in front of her.
He claims the rapper was trying to upstage her as anytime they’d show Swift on the cameras, ‘Kanye’s face was going to be there’.
But Marshall alleges that when the ‘Love Story’ singer got wind of Ye’s plan, she shot it down.
“He’s got a mask on with his logo on the mask – typical Kanye. Taylor Swift gets p**sed off, she boom boom makes a call or two,” the former NFL player claims.
@kanyewest/Instagram
“Everybody’s involved. He gets kicked out the stadium!”
It’s not clear where Marshall got this information from, and it’s also worth saying he started off his story by getting Swift mixed up with Katy Perry – leading you to wonder what else he might have got wrong.
West has denied these allegations, with one of his reps telling TMZ: “This is a completely fabricated rumour. It is not true.”
Whether he was in his intended seat or not, the rapper was in attendance at the Super Bowl in Vegas, wearing a black mask with a white crucifix on it.
LADbible has contacted Swift’s team for a comment.
Featured Image Credit: MEGA/GC Images/Getty Images/Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Super Bowl
Jess Battison
Kanye West Explains Why He Bought House Next To Kim Kardashian
West, 44, bought the $4.5 million single-storey house in California’s Hidden Hills last month
Kanye West has explained why he bought the house across the road from ex-wife Kim Kardashian, saying the whole thing had been ‘flipped’ into ‘something wrong’.
West, 44, bought the $4.5 million single-storey house in California’s Hidden Hills last month, reportedly forking out $421,000 over the asking price to land it.
Built in 1955, the home boasts four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and an acre of land. But the main selling point for West had been that it was just over the road from Kardashian – or, rather, Kardashian and the children that he shares with her.
Speaking to Hollywood Unlocked he simply said ‘nothing’ would keep him from seeing his kids.
“My solace comes from seeing my kids and getting a solid schedule. That’s why I even got the house,” he said.
“[It was] flipped into there was something wrong with me getting a house next to my kids.”
Alamy
West revealed that he was also spurred on by his own move from Atlanta to Chicago as a child, continuing: “You see when my mom took me from Atlanta to Chicago, my dad didn’t come to the coldest and most dangerous city in the world to be next to [me].
“He said, ‘I’m going to stay down in Atlanta.’”
West added: “Nothing with my career, with this rap, with this media, with none of that, that’s gonna keep me from my children. And that’s what I want everybody to know.
“Don’t play with me, don’t play with my children. Ain’t no security gonna get in between me and my children and you ain’t gonna gaslight me.”
Instagram/Kim Kardashian
West, who is dating actor Julia Fox, previously indicated that he planned to purchase a property near Kardashian, but that this had more to do with family life than anything else.
While the rapper was out delivering Thanksgiving dinners to those less fortunate in Los Angeles in December, he told the assembled crowd that he planned to ‘get [his] family back together’ and said that if he couldn’t live ‘in the house’ with his family, he would simply buy ‘the home next door’ to Kardashian.
