After a number of rants and call-outs aimed directly at Gap and Adidas, Kanye West is ready to move on from working with his corporate partners when the deals expire, comparing them to "baby mamas."
In an interview with Bloomberg that was published on Monday (Sept. 12), Kanye West made it clear that he eventually intends to continue on his journey in the apparel industry but will do it on his own terms. The world-renowned rapper, producer and fashion designer likened his current partnerships with both Gap and Adidas, which expire in 2030 and 2026, respectively, to a co-parenting relationship similar to the one he is currently involved in with his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
"It’s time for me to go it alone," Ye told Bloomberg's Kim Bhasin. "It’s fine. I made the companies money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever. Like the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides that have changed the shoe industry. Now it’s time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience."
"They my new baby mamas," the Donda 2 artist continued. "I guess we're just going to have to co-parent those 350s.
Kanye's revelation that it's time to head into the fashion world alone comes on the heels of a number of gripes the Chicago native has had with Gap and Adidas. Back in June, Ye called out his fellow Yeezy footwear collaborators, Adidas, by claiming that the style of their recently launched Adilette Slide 22 is a direct knockoff of his Yeezy slide.
More recently, the Louis Vuitton Don's frustrations have been aimed at Gap as it pertains to their Yeezy Gap clothing line partnership. Last month, after Kanye lashed out on Gap execs for excluding him from what he believed was a closed-door meeting about his brand, the Grammy Award-winning, multiplatinum artist posted a video of himself tearing into members of the company during a meeting in Atlanta at the tail-end of August.
XXL has reached out to representatives for Gap, Adidas and Kanye West for a statement regarding the matter.