Kanye West's 6 ridiculous Twitter eras, from water-bottle hate to 'Stop playing chess with life'
It is the Year of Our Lord 2018, which means absolutely nothing is normal on Twitter: Bernie Sanders tweeted about Cardi B, that photo of James Comey with Method Man and Ghostface Killah is still making its rounds, and Kanye West, who recently reactivated his account, is spewing the equivalent of those inspirational Yogi Tea bag quotes.
The rapper’s musings come days after the Hollywood Reporter published an interview in which he claimed he was writing a philosophy book. We shared our theories on what it could include, and it seems we already have an answer. In the middle of Wednesday’s Twitter blast — does this man not know how to thread his tweets? — Kanye wrote: “oh by the way this is my book that I’m writing in real time. No publisher or publicist will tell me what to put where or how many pages to write. This is not a financial opportunity this is an innate need to be expressive.”
Weird? Absolutely. But Kanye has always been ahead of the curve, whether through his music or online nuttiness. Since joining Twitter in 2010, he has shared his thoughts on everything from airplane water bottles to creative ownership. A majority of the tweets have been deleted, but nothing is ever truly gone from the Internet.
In honor of Kanye’s most recent case of the Twitter fingers, here are six distinct eras of his time on the social media site. (This is obviously not exhaustive because dear God, who would do that to themselves?)
The era of ridiculous things like water-bottle hatred and cherub-imagery desire (2010)
Kanye cemented his status as fantastic follow when he tweeted the following in October 2010: “I hate when I’m on a flight and I wake up with a water bottle next to me like oh great now I gotta be responsible for this water bottle.” Who among us hasn’t been in his shoes? The sentiment was so #relatable that it even ended up — albeit misdated — on a ceramic mug that you can buy online for a whopping $16.99.
In July of that year — the month he signed up for an account — Kanye shared his disappointment at ordering the wrong Persian rug: “I specifically ordered persian rugs with cherub imagery!!! What do I have to do to get a simple persian rug with cherub imagery uuuuugh.” We’ve . . . all been there?
He also tweeted that day about needing a luxury horse, according to Jezebel, and about how Twitter was “designed specifically with me in mind just my humble opinion hahhhahaaaahaaa humble hahahahhahaahaaaa.”
Yeah, okay. We haven’t all been there.
The era of not being humble (2012)
If that last tweet didn’t do it for you, let’s be as clear as possible: Kanye West holds himself in extremely high regard. He said as much two years later: “you may be talented, but you’re not kanye west.” Need another mug?
At least he’s honest. In what Wired called an “86-tweet-long monologue” that January, Kanye shared stories from his youth and admitted, “Being a celebrity has afforded me many opportunities but has also boxed me in creatively.” If you’d like to treat yourself to a full version of the tirade, the Hollywood Reporter published it here.
Kanye then deleted all his tweets later that year, leaving only the elusive, “BE BACK SOON.” Might it have been due to the influence of one Kim Kardashian? That’s the year they started dating, after all.
The era of being really normal (2014)
For the 10th anniversary of “The College Dropout,” Kanye wrote several grateful tweets looking back at his debut album.
“Ten years ago today we finally released what had been my life’s work up to that point: The College Dropout,” he wrote, according to Rolling Stone. “I say ‘finally’ because it was a long road, a constant struggle and a true labor of love to not only convince my peers and the public that I could be an artist, but to actually get that art out for the world to hear.”
He added: “Ten years later, I am still the same kid from Chicago, still dreaming out loud, still banging on the door. The doors may be heavier, but I promise you WE WILL BREAK THEM.”
The “I’M SO LUCKY” era (2015)
The nickname “Kimye” referred to a married couple by this point, and Kanye’s approach to Twitter completely changed. He posted intimate photos of Kim when she hit 30 million followers in March and captioned one of them “SWISH!!!” That got the word trending, because of course it did.
The rapper’s love for his wife has long been evident on his social media. He even returned to Instagram in February 2018 just to wish her a happy Valentine’s Day. She is currently the only person he follows on Twitter.
The era of attacking Wiz Khalifa (2016)
Ah, yes, the return of “Swish.”
Kanye started a fight with fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa in January 2016 when Kanye changed the name of his then-upcoming album from “Swish” to “Waves,” which Wiz claimed dishonored Max B and the Wave movement. (The album, eventually titled “The Life of Pablo,” happens to include a song called “Waves.”) Because Twitter beef is hardly ever handled directly, Wiz had subtweeted his remarks and Kanye responded in the same manner.
Many of the tweets referred to Amber Rose, Kanye’s ex-girlfriend and Wiz’s ex-wife, while others called back to Kanye’s ego problem, as he said things like: “I am your OG and I will be respected as such.” But it wasn’t all bad, because he apparently also respected Wiz’s style — “I went to look to your twitter and you were wearing cool pants” — and eventually apologized. All Kanye wanted was “peace and positive energy,” guys.
The modern era of unsolicited guidance (2018)
Aaaaand . . . he’s back! After reactivating his account Friday, Kanye spent much of Wednesday morning going on and on about how to live life. Do not give in to fear, he says, for it makes people manipulative. Don’t play chess with life. Don’t follow the crowd — follow your heart. And most importantly, “just stop lying.”
This sage-like wisdom is apparently an online version of his philosophy book, but that doesn’t mean he won’t delete the tweets eventually. We’ve included a few images below for your viewing pleasure.
Read more:
Kanye West is apparently working on a philosophy book. Here’s what it could include.
Here’s why Chicago is actually a great name for Kimye’s baby
Your guide to the Kanye West Twitter fury unleashed on Wiz Khalifa
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