Kanye West couldn't have began 2016 any more differently than 2015, with the only similarity between "Only One" and "FACTS" being their midnight January 1st releases. Rather than getting into proud father/loving son mode to do some spiritual musing about the changes in his personal life, West rang in this new year by getting into reckless/Odell Beckham Jr. mode and giving Adidas a freestyle that doubles as a Nike smear ad (or is it the other way around?). "Only One" had him switching point of views, talking about angels, personifying the sky; "FACTS," as its title suggests, claims to present a much more nonfiction look at the world. But is that really the case?
While Ye doesn't self-mythologize quite as much as he's been known to in the past (IE: "I could stand there in a Speedo and be looked at like a fuckin' hero" on "The Glory"), "FACTS" does make some claims that are either a little off-the-mark or exaggerated. Now it's time to set the record straight. Click on to find out which of Ye's boasts are actually factual and which are patently untrue.
facts
FACTS
"Yeezy, Yeezy, Yeezy, they line up for days" - For those who are out of the loop and think that the high price of Adidas' Yeezy line is the only thing that makes them exclusive, know this: Ye's not lying here. Dedicated 'heads do in fact wait multiple days to cop.
'Yeezy, Yeezy, Yeezy, they line up for days' #FACTS pic.twitter.com/fVCriJbpzb
"Every time I talk they say I'm too aggressive" - Do a Twitter search of "Kanye aggressive," and sure enough, you'll find people linking to nearly everything he's ever done ("Only One" excluded) and observing that he has little to no chill.
"Yeezy in the house and we just got appraised" - According to TMZ, Ye and Kim were looking to sell their Bel Air mansion a little over a month ago, so while it's not confirmed, it's highly likely they got that shit appraised.
"I done wore designers I won't wear again" - Ye runs through brands like Future ran through European broads on the 56 Nights tour, so it's unsurprising that he's left some in the dust. For one, he's vowed to never wear anything by Hedi Slimane (formerly of Christian Dior, currently Yves Saint Laurent's creative director) again, and although he denied an outright "boycott," claimed in 2013 that Louis Vuitton was a brand "nobody even thinking about no more." So much for his "Don" status...
"We made a million a minute" - Although Kim's app "Kimoji" didn't actually shut down Apple's App Store (more on that in a minute), a report did surface that claimed the $1.99 app was selling 9,000 copies a second at its peak. This means that Kim raked in approximately $1,074,600 per minute
"James Harden, Swaggy P runnin' up the budget" - James Harden recently signed a $200 million contract with Adidas, and although Nick Young's contract details haven't been released, the brand has definitely upped its spending in the basketball world. (It's still no match for Nike's roster of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving though).
"Keep the work at my baby mama's mama's house" - Although he clearly is referring to a different sort of "work" than many of his peers, West does in fact base most of his fashion operations out of Kris Jenner's Cali mansion.
"I like my bitches extra thick" - Ye's first fiancée, Alexis Phifer, didn't exactly fit the bill, but since then he's been with two of the thickest heartthrobs in the industry.
fiction
Fiction
"Yeezy, Yeezy, Yeezy just jumped over Jumpman" - Ye's been making this exact claim since 2012, when the latest Yeezys were also made by Nike, but it still hasn't come to pass. Jordan retro sales and resales have declined ever so slightly over the past year, but that's mostly due to Nike producing more pairs per release. More broadly, Nike's market cap of $86.2 billion is almost $70 billion over Adidas', so the brand still has a ton of catching up to do.
"If Nike ain't have Drizzy, man they wouldn't have nothin', woo!/If Nike ain't have Don C, man they wouldn't have nothin', ooh!" - See: Nike's roster of basketball stars on the previous page.
"Nike out here bad, they can't give shit away" - You're crazy to think that a free Jordan giveaway wouldn't draw a crowd in 2016.
"I ain't dropped the album but the shoes went platinum" - All six of Ye's solo albums have sold over a million copies, but as is readily apparent from the lines and absurd resale prices, there aren't enough Yeezys to go around-- that's why they're such a hot commodity. If Adidas produced even half a million Yeezys, it would totally defeat the purpose.
"[Nike] Gave LeBron a billi not to run away" - Time could prove this to be true, but for now it's an exaggeration. While sources say that estimates of Bron's lifetime contract being worth $400-$500 million are "low," it's unlikely that the total will double over the course of his life.
"10 thousand dollar fur for Nori, I just copped it" - As "FACTS" also references some very recent events (Steve Harvey's Miss Universe slip-up, DJ TimBuck2's passing), it could be the case that Ye got his daughter an absurdly expensive coat for Christmas, but more than likely, he's referring to a garment we already know about. Back in February, he and Kim copped Nori a $3500 coat (which went on to inspire Travi$ Scott's song of the same name), which is still absurdly expensive, mind you.