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Kanye West is now officially 'Ye'

By Rachel Treisman
Published October 19, 2021 at 9:58 AM EDT
Ye, then known as Kanye West, attends the Versace fall 2019 fashion show on Dec. 2, 2018 in New York City.
Roy Rochlin
/
Getty Images
Ye, then known as Kanye West, attends the Versace fall 2019 fashion show on Dec. 2, 2018 in New York City.

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is officially now "Ye."

A Los Angeles judge approved his petition for a name change on Monday, Deadline reported. He had filed the paperwork back in August, citing "personal reasons."

But the change has been in the works for even longer — or at least since 2018, when the famously polarizing artist released a studio album by that name and made his persona Twitter-official.

He explained the name's biblical significance in an interview promoting the album that same year.

"I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible, it means 'you,'" he said. "So I'm you, I'm us, it's us."

No word yet on what the judge's decision will mean for Ye's estranged wife Kim Kardashian West, who has kept his (now-former) last name despite filing for divorce in February. He was among the list of celebrities she skewered while hosting Saturday Night Live earlier this month.

This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Rachel Treisman
Rachel Treisman (she/her) is a writer and editor for the Morning Edition live blog, which she helped launch in early 2021.
See stories by Rachel Treisman

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