Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has never been one to mince his words, and in his two-hour long interview with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN on their popular rap podcast Drink Champs Thursday night (Nov. 5), the mogul and hip-hop legend did what he always does: say exactly what’s on his mind.
Ye didn’t do any press following the release of his latest studio album, Donda, and he has barely spoken a word aside from short social media interviews. On his episode of Drink Champs, he fills in most of the gaps that fans have missed during his absence, including where he stands with Drake personally, who he thinks could go against him in a Verzuz battle, his favorite rappers and rap groups of all-time and more.
Since he’s been silent for so long, he covered a lot of ground during his visit to Drink Champs. During the interview, Ye revealed that he’s been spending his time away from the limelight to lead a more “nomadic” lifestyle, traveling with nothing but satchels of varying sizes that he calls his houses, whereas the FaceTime calls from his children are his “home.”
N.O.R.E. also pointed out at the beginning of the episode that Ye was about to arrive on set with no security, something that he’s been seen doing more recently, even being seen taking commercial flights to places with his full-face mask on. But don’t be confused, the rapper still takes time to remind everyone that he’s the wealthiest person in the room, saying that he still owns 12,000 acres of property, 1,200 sheep, and various other forms of real estate. Ye also revealed that a deluxe version of Donda will eventually be released and some of the inspiration behind the album’s songs, like “24” being dedicated to the late Kobe Bryant.
Ultimately, for better or for worse, Ye left no stone unturned in his inaugural visit to Drink Champs and gave us a glimpse at where his mind is at. To save you the 2 hours and 20 minutes, here are the six things we learned from Ye’s episode of Drink Champs.
Ye Thinks No One Can Face Him in a Verzuz Battle
Not even 30-minutes into the interview, Ye already gets into how he thinks no one could face him in a Verzuz battle. The rapper said that he would be interested in participating in Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s series; however, he doesn’t think anyone would be up for the challenge of facing him.
“I’m winning in every situation,” Ye responds when asked if he thinks he would beat Drake, another decorated artist, in a battle. In fact, Ye clarified that he thinks it would take “about four people” to go against him head-to-head in a Verzuz, and that he could even go against himself for a whole season of the series, pitting his different albums or different production styles against each other to make it interesting.
Ye Doesn’t Hate Drake — He Hates Subliminals
As per usual, Ye had a lot to say about his rap peer/rival/nemesis Drake during his time on Drink Champs. After both of their studio albums, Donda and Certified Lover Boy, dropped a week apart from each other—with the latter containing a very direct diss track in “7am on Bridle Path”—many were curious as to how their relationship got this contentious, and where the feud might go from here.
Ye cleared the air about his stance towards Drake and talked about how he dislikes how the Toronto rapper uses subliminals to indirectly disrespect him, like insinuating he slept with Kim Kardashian even though they both know he didn’t. However, Ye also recognizes that Drake’s music has a utilitarian quality to it, and that he makes rap accessible to varying groups of people. “The style of rap that he was doing was more sophisticated from the style of rap I grew up on,” Ye explained.
He clarifies that he doesn’t hate Drake, and that he thinks he’s an influential artist who “added something to the algorithm” in terms of changing the way people engage with hip-hop. At one point, Ye even revealed that his favorite song on CLB is “TSU” and that he wanted the beat for the song himself. While they don’t have the best relationship, Ye appreciates what Drake does for music, just not the sneaky way he goes about getting under his skin on songs.
He Disagrees with Big Sean and John Legend’s Political Affiliations
Big Sean recently revealed that he left G.O.O.D. Music after 14 years of being signed to the label to secure a “bigger cut” of profits for himself, and Ye just added more fuel to the proverbial dumpster fire by saying that signing the Detroit rapper to his label was “the worst thing I’ve ever done.”
While he never says he has a problem with Sean as a person, he did say that he feels like the Detroit rapper is a “sellout” for how he and John Legend publicly supported Joe Biden and the Democratic Party this past election cycle. “Nah, look, I know this man’s mama,” Ye explained. “I’ve changed this man’s family. And both John Legend and Big Sean, when I ran for office, got used quick by the Democrats to come at they boy that actually changed they life and that’s some sellout shit. And I don’t rock with neither of them and I need my apologies… n—-s is scared.”
Only a few minutes after the episode aired, Sean took to Twitter to reveal that he and Ye were just together at what looks like his Sunday Service concert held during Halloween. “Was just wit this man, he ain’t say none of that!!! And this was after the interview! I’m dying laughing at you @kanyewest,” Sean tweeted. It didn’t appear like Sean and Ye’s relationship was that fractured, but given these new comments, it’s unclear where they stand now.
He Still Wants to be With Kim Kardashian and Preserve His Family
Ye brought up several times during his Drink Champs interview that he still wants to preserve his marriage with Kim Kardashian—who officially filed for divorce from him on Feb. 19—he hates her publicist, and he hates Hulu and E! Network. Hulu and E! are both stations that used to air Keeping Up With The Kardashians before the series concluded this year, and he asserts that his family life is real and not just for people’s entertainment.
He also believes that Kim’s publicist is trying to keep them and his family apart. Questions were raised when the Kardashian appeared at the end of Ye’s third Donda listening event in Chicago, wearing what appeared to be a white wedding gown, after the two hadn’t been seen together in months. Ye confirmed in the interview that he and Kim are still technically married, and that he still views her as “his wife.”
The Red Cap Isn’t Going Anywhere
Some thought that Ye had undergone some kind of metamorphosis when he disappeared from the public eye after his failed presidential run and pro-life outcry in early 2020, but rest assured, the man behind the mask is still wearing a red cap.
During several points of the interview, Ye made it clear that he still “got the red cap on today. I’ll let y’all know that right now.” Despite being heavily criticized for his visits with former-president Donald Trump during his tenure at the White House, Ye still holds a firm conviction against cancel culture and the Democratic Party. He says several times throughout the interview that he can’t be “canceled” at all. “I love it, I’m above it,” Ye says in response to being asked about the criticism he got for bringing DaBaby and Marilyn Manson out with him during his third Donda listening event in Chicago, two artists who were previously believed to be “canceled.”
This was followed by disturbing comments about how sexual assault allegations of varying severity are all looked at the same, referring to the several allegations of assault and misconduct against Manson.
He Has a Few Hot Takes During “Quicktime with Slime”
In a popular Drink Champs segment called “Quicktime with Slime,” N.O.R.E. asks the guest a series of questions where they have to pick between two people about which is better, and if they can’t choose, then they have to take a shot.
For this edition, Ye barely drank as he didn’t hold back in choosing which person he thought was better. Among some of his interesting answers, Ye revealed that he believes Just Blaze is a “copycat” who replicated his own production style on most of Jay-Z’s 2001 album The Blueprint, that Common is “a thousand times better” than Talib Kweli, and that he’s picking Funkmaster Flex over Kid Capri on the DJ front because of how Flex made “Otis” a legendary song by spinning it back on air 30-plus times.
He also revealed that it was Fivio Foriegn’s impressive freestyle fresh out of prison on Hot 97 with Flex that made him want to reach out to get the drill rapper on “Off The Grid,” delivering one of the most memorable features on Donda. He even talked about the current generation of rappers, picking Lil Baby over DaBaby because he believes everyone is trying to rap like him and has a very captivating sound.
