Did Kanye Just Reveal Who He ‘Thought About Killing’ On That ye Track?

Listening to Kanye West's "I Thought About Killing You" is a jarring experience. The initial song off ye finds the Chicago artist using a spoken word stream of consciousness to discuss killing a mysterious person — "Today, I seriously thought about killing you / I contemplated, premeditated murder."


From the outset, it wasn't clear who Kanye was aiming his anger toward on the song. Much of West's eighth studio albums finds West apologizing to his spouse, Kim Kardashian; so it didn't seem like her. Could it potentially be Drake, who famously came soon after West on "Duppy Freestyle?" Right after a trip to hear ye in Wyoming, this writer thought it was apparent Kanye was talking about himself and his various tribulations with addiction, politics, and his inner conflicts. Luckily, that hunch was proven right by Kanye who described the recent method of killing off one of his signature traits.


"I killed my ego." Kanye wrote. "Who or what is Kanye West without ego? Just Ye. This is new for me nevertheless it’s just how I feel right now. I don’t know why. I thought my ego protected me from doubters so that I wouldn’t doubt myself however there has to be a higher class of way to do this.


Kanye's tweets also give potential context to why his new album has the simple title, ye. If the Ye moniker is the father of three devoid of all ego, it makes sense why his new album is a far more muted and reflective affair than previous work.