Kanye West has defended his recent declarations of support for Donald Trump in a new rap.
Earlier this week, Kanye made headlines when he posted a string of tweets in support of Trump, including sharing that he had a signed ‘Make America Great Again’ hat.
He’s now explained the posts in a new track, ‘Ye Vs. The People’, in which he and T.I. swap verses discussing the situation.
Kanye kicks off the track by declaring that Trump’s election proves that even he could one day “be President”, to which T.I. asks: “Yeah you can, at what cost though? Don’t that go against the teachings that Ye taught for?”
The ‘Yeezus’ rapper continues: “You just reading the headlines, you don’t see the fine print, you on some choosin’-side shit, I’m on some unified shit.”
Alluding to cases of police brutality against black people in America, T.I. says: “[This is] bigger than your selfish agenda, if your election ain’t gon’ stop police from murderin’ n****s.
“You gotta see the vantage point of the people, what makes you feel equal makes them feel evil.”
Defending his right to support whichever politician he chooses, Kanye says: “That’s the problem with this damn nation, all blacks gotta be Democrats, man, we ain’t made it off the plantation.”
T.I. voices many Kanye fans’ concerns when he spits back: “This is stubborn, selfish, bullheaded, even for you. You wore a dusty ass hat to represent the same views as white supremacy, man, we expect better from you.
“All them times you sounded crazy, we defended you, homie, now just to be let down when we depend on you, homie. That’s why it’s important to know what direction you’re goin’ now because everything that you built can be destroyed and torn down.”
Kanye then hits back: “You think I ain’t concerned about how I affect the past? I mean, that hat stayed in my closet about a year and a half, then one day I was like, ‘Fuck it, Imma do me’”
Referencing the film ‘Get Out’, he concludes: “I was in the sunken place and then I found the new me.”
Kanye recently revealed that a seven-track solo album, the follow-up to 2016’s ‘The Life Of Pablo’, would be coming in June, though it’s not yet known whether ‘Ye Vs. The People’ will be among the tracklisting.
Following his most explicit comments in support of Trump earlier this week, Kanye was quick to point out - at his wife Kim Kardashian’s insistence - that he “does not agree with everything Trump does”, before adding: “I don’t agree 100% with anyone but myself.”
Kanye has previously voiced support for Trump in the past, even paying a visit to Trump Tower in the wake of the results of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump was also one of the sleeping nude figures the rapper included in his controversial ‘Famous’ music video, alongside Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Caitlyn Jenner.
Read the lyrics to ‘Ye Vs. The People’ on Genius.