CELEBRITY
Kanye West reignites Taylor Swift feud as he takes subtle swipe at singer and boyfriend Travis Kelce
Rapper Kanye West name-dropped pop star Taylor Swift and her boyfriend NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce on his latest album Vultures 2.
After all the drama that came from the Chicago-bred artist’s controversial lyrical reference to Taylor in his 2015 song Famous, one might think he’d avoid using her name in his records. While Kanye’s Vultures 2 track Lifestyle (Demo) clearly called out Taylor, the song lyric about the songstress was seemingly less aggressive than the one he rapped in Famous.
“I twist my Taylor spliffs tight at the end like Travis Kelce,” Kanye rapped.
Travis is a tight-end player for the Super Bowl-winning team the Kansas City Chiefs. Neither he nor the Style singer have publicly addressed Kanye’s lyric. It’s no secret that there is bad blood between Taylor and Kanye, and his new song could potentially reignite the otherwise dormant feud between them. Their feuding began over a decade ago when they both attended the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009.
After she won Best Female Music Video at the awards show for her hit You Belong with Me, Kanye proceeded to walk on up to the stage and ambush Taylor’s acceptance speech.
Taking the the mic, Kanye said: “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”
Taylor then broke her silence to reporters later on, with her saying: “I was standing on stage and I was really excited because I’d just won the award and then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage … And then I wasn’t excited anymore after that.”
Two days later, Taylor revealed that Kanye apologized after rudely interrupting her. Speaking on ABC Radio, she said: “Kanye did call me and he was very sincere in his apology, and I accepted that apology. The support I got from other artists and from the fans, and so many people sticking up for me, that’s what got me to the place where I could accept that apology. And I’m just very thankful that everyone showed me so much love.”
They had a brief reconciliation period when Taylor presented Kanye with the MTV Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs.
After the event, he sent her flowers and Taylor posted about them on Instagram, writing: “Awwww Kanye sent me the coolest flowers!! #KanTay2020 #BFFs”.
Their reunion was short-lived. A few months after the VMAs, Kanye put out the song Famous, from his album The Life of Pablo, in which he rapped: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b – -ch famous”.
Upon receiving a bunch of backlash, Kanye then took to then-Twitter to boast about how he had obtained permission from Taylor regarding name-dropping her.
Kanye claimed he got permission after the pair were on the phone for around one hour. But shortly after, during Taylor’s acceptance speech at the Grammys for Album of the Year she addressed the lyric.
“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice. I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” Taylor said.
Kanye and Taylor’s relationship hasn’t fully recovered since then.