Kanye West has filed to change his name to Ye. The rapper, 44, was born Kanye Omari West, but he filed the legal paperwork for the new name on August 24, according to docs obtained by HollywoodLife. We reached out to Kanye’s rep and lawyer for comments on his reported filing, but we didn’t receive immediate responses.
No other details are available at this time, but what’s interesting is that Kanye previously expressed interest in changing his name to Ye. In a 2018 tweet, he said, “The being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE.”
Kanye’s four children — North, 8, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 2 — and ex-wife Kim Kardashian all share West as their surname, so if Kanye gets his wish, he’ll no longer share as last name with them.
At this time, it’s not clear how long the approval process may take, but according to TMZ, who first reported the news, “unless there’s evidence a name change is designed to commit fraud or other shenanigans … the judge will approve it.”
Kanye’s name change request comes amid his preparations for a third listening event for Donda, his much-delayed follow-up to Jesus Is King. Kanye is reportedly in the process of replicating his childhood home in Chicago’s Soldier Field ahead of the event on Aug. 26. Kanye’s two previous events were held in Atlanta, where both Kim and his kids attended.
And speaking of Kim — she and Kanye ended their marriage in February, following nearly seven years of marriage. They have yet to finalize their divorce, but that could happen any day now.
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life, and he’s feeling good.