Kanye West has altered his name for a second time, now legally adopting the moniker “Ye Ye.” The rapper, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, had his chief financial officer, Hussain Lalani, file business documents in California listing the new name.
Previously, West’s paperwork referenced him as “Ye West,” but his businesses, including Yeezy Apparel, Yeezy Record Label LLC, and Getting Out Our Dreams Inc., have now adopted “Ye Ye” as the official moniker. However, West has yet to make a public announcement about the name change on social media.
Earlier this month, West took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce he was quitting his old account, which used his birth name. “Ima finally stop using the @kanyewest twitter cause my name is Ye,” he tweeted on June 1. “Gonna start a ye account and it is what it is.”
West first hinted at using the name Ye back in 2018, even titling his album Ye, which was recorded at his ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That year, he also shared on social media, “the being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE.”
In 2021, West legally changed his name for personal reasons, and a judge officially approved the alteration to Ye. This March, Milo Yiannopoulos, West’s chief of staff, issued a letter demanding that West be referred to as “Ye” and not his “slave name.” Yiannopoulos emphasized that West’s name change was a permanent and deliberate decision.
The letter also criticized platforms and organizations that still reference West by his former name, urging them to make the change and recognize Ye as his identity. Yiannopoulos emphasized that the name change reflects West’s desire for self-determination.
