Charlamagne Tha God Spoke to Kanye West and Checked Him for Lying About His Masters
Kanye West’s Twitter sprees are slowly becoming their own legends.
Depending on the subject, his tweetstorms go ignored, go viral, invite healthy debate, or invite the internet’s wrath. Most of the time, West manages to become a topic of discussion in the media and on social media. Sometimes, his friends and family respond on Twitter, and other times, they do it privately.
West’s latest tweets moved Charlamagne Tha God to contact him about his true intentions concerning ownership, and the radio personality said he called his friend out about some half-truths.
What Kanye West said about artists, masters, Taylor Swift
In a string of tweets published on Sept. 20, West issued a call to action for record labels to renegotiate contracts to tip the scales in artists’ favor. He ran down issues with copyright, publishing, merchandising, licensing, and the biggie: ownership of master recordings. West proclaimed that he wanted freedom from harsh contracts.
He also promised to help Taylor Swift acquire her masters through his relationship with her former manager, Scooter Braun. West declared he’d return his percentage of masters’ ownership to artists on his G.O.O.D. Music label. That includes acts such as Big Sean and Teyana Taylor.
Billboard and other outlets pointed out some of the merits in West’s plan. Some social media users questioned his sincerity, and others acknowledged that change should happen in the industry.
Charlamagne Tha God says West owns some of his masters already
Charlamagne brought West up during an episode of his Brilliant Idiots podcast and asserted that the “Closed on Sunday” rapper is a narcissist who plays the victim.
When speaking on West’s tweets about the music business, he agreed that artists should stand up for themselves. However, Charlamagne wasn’t on board with everything West said.
“I spoke to Kanye this week,” he said. “I said I hope this conversation you’re having isn’t a self-serving conversation.”
Charlamagne said he told West that contracts are exploitive but noted noted one thing. “But what you’re not telling people is that you negotiated with Def Jam/Universal four different times. And you chose the money over your masters every single time. And you’re not telling people that you own the masters for Yeezus and every album after that.”
Charlamagne stated he urged West to tell the entire truth and “have the whole conversation.” He wondered if West is a hypocrite.
Charlamange The God encouraged West’s artists
News of West’s intent to give his artists their masters traveled fast, and Charlamagne advised everyone on the G.O.O.D. Music roster to hold West to his word. He believes that West should have created the deals with that stipulation in the first place as an owner rebelling against a bigger machine.
Charlamagne feels that West’s words are self-serving and an afterthought. As it stands, the tweet is still up, and West is still campaigning for freedom from unfair recording contracts.
His latest Twitter posts are related to the Matrix and slavery, but it’s unclear whether he’s actually followed through with returning ownership to his artists.
