Kanye West answers questions from Sr. pastor Joel Osteen during the 11 am service at Lakewood Church on Nov. 17, 2019, in Houston.
AP Photo/Michael WykeYe is starting fresh. Followers of the artist formerly known as Kanye West were in for a surprise on Monday (Nov. 29) when the rapper’s Instagram was scrubbed clean of all photos.
Whether Ye had deleted or simply archived all of his posts was unclear, but the 9.5 million users who follow him were greeted with the message “No posts yet” on a stark white background to correspond with his blank, black profile photo.
Of course, Ye has always had a famously tempestuous relationship to social media – though it’s typically his Twitter account that gets deactivated and revived on a somewhat regular basis. In recent days, the “Praise God” rapper had used his Instagram Stories to continue his public plea to reconcile with estranged wife Kim Kardashian through a publicly broadcast Thanksgiving prayer. (“All I think about every day is how I get my family back together,” he said in the video.)
He also mourned the death of Virgil Abloh over the weekend by sharing a Sunday Service Choir performance of Adele’s latest No. 1 hit “Easy on Me” dedicated to the memory of his late friend.
Ye’s decision to wipe his social slate clean comes on the heels of his latest spate of Grammy nominations. While his long-gestating 2021 album DONDA was reportedly a late addition to the album of the year race alongside rival Taylor Swift’s Evermore, the rapper also received additional nods for best melodic rap performance (for “Hurricane” featuring The Weeknd and Lil Baby), best rap song (for “Jail” featuring Jay-Z), and best rap album. (He’s also listed as a songwriter on Lil Nas X’s fellow album of the year nominee MONTERO.)
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
