After releasing 10 studio albums and winning 24 Grammys, Kanye West is reportedly retiring from professional music. The surprising news about the 47-year-old "Flashing Lights" artist's retirement was revealed through a supposed text message conversation with rapper Rich The Kid.
Rich The Kid, 31, shared a screenshot on his Instagram Story of messages from a contact saved as 'Ye' on his iPhone. The message from a person believed to be West, who officially changed his name to Ye in 2021, said: "I'm retiring from professional music. Not sure what else to do." The news of his retirement comes amid a spate of controversies surrounding West and his wife Bianca Censori.
Shock Decision
Following the revelation, Rich tried to persuade the father of four to rethink his decision, citing the recent success of his "Vultures 1" album with rapper Ty Dolla $ign. "Retire? Why ? How ? The [people] NEED you the music you & Ty & we have made was the BIGGEST STAMP in culture to this date In 2024," he wrote.
Rich was prominently featured on West and Ty's hit single "Carnival," which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March.
The track also became West's first number-one hit in 13 years. His previous one was Katy Perry's 2011 single "E.T."
"Drop Ye about mine & V2 and we do it all over again," Rich continued. "the kids need you big bra fasho maybe some time to chill buy retiring ain't it."
After news of Ye's retirement began spreading online, Rich deleted the screenshot from his Instagram Story.
This led fans to speculate that he might have posted it to generate publicity for his upcoming album, "Life's A Gamble."
Just hours later, Rich returned to Instagram to announce the release date and give a sneak peek at the track list, which features a new song with West.
Fans Confused and Clueless
West, who is rumored to have produced "Life's A Gamble" with collaborator Ty Dolla $ign, is featured on track 16, titled "Plain Jane." Rich's album also includes "Carnival" as the closing track.
"Life's A Gamble 7/19," Rich captioned the post, also sharing the album artwork with his nearly 12 million followers.
Fans flocked to the comments section, expressing their frustration and confusion. One fan wrote, "Long story short y'all lied for promotion?"
Many were curious about why Rich had deleted the texts about Ye's retirement.
West released his first rap EP, "Get Well Soon...," in December 2002 under Jay-Z's now-defunct label Roc-A-Fella Records.
He released his critically acclaimed debut album, "College Dropout," less than two years later in February 2004.
Since making his debut on the rap scene over 20 years ago, West has sold an impressive 160 million records globally and has won 24 Grammy Awards. He has two Diamond-certified songs — "Stronger" from 2007 and "N***as in Paris" featuring Jay-Z from 2011 — and all 10 of his albums have achieved at least Gold certification.
His 10th studio album, "Vultures 1," debuted at No. 1 upon its release in February 2024. This album was a collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign as their hip-hop duo ¥$.
West has hinted that a follow-up album, "Vultures 2," is in the works.
Speculation about West's potential retirement from music comes amid various legal issues, mainly related to his struggling Yeezy empire.
