Kanye West recently shared a screenshot of a post from X on his Instagram story that said he had overtaken Taylor Swift as the top artist globally on Spotify.
A chart in the screenshot showed Kanye was on top of Spotify’s global top artist list on February 11, while Swift was in second place.
Kanye West has overtaken Taylor Swift as the top artist globally on Spotify. pic.twitter.com/YPQVwjvB1I
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) February 13, 2024
One day later, he shared another screenshot on Instagram of a post from a Swift fan calling on other fans to stream Beyonce’s new track, “Texas Hold Em’,” so it would reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 100 chart instead of Kanye’s tracks from his new album, “Vultures 1.”
“REMEMBER he just DRAGGED Taylor on his latest Instagram story,” the fan said in the now-deleted X post. Kanye slammed Swifties in the caption of an Instagram post on Wednesday.
“WHEN I SAID THAT I’M THE NEW JESUS, I WASN’T EVEN THINKING ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT. THAT WAS A WHOLE LINE BEFORE BUT I APPRECIATE THE FREE PROMO,” he wrote, referring to a lyric in his new song “Carnival.”
West said his new album focused on positivity and fun after his difficulties last year, including his divorce from Kim Kardashian and numerous companies cutting ties with him over offensive behavior. He also played down his long-term feud with Swift later in the post.
“ALSO, I’M SURE I’VE BEEN FAR MORE HELPFUL TO TAYLOR SWIFT’S CAREER THAN HARMFUL. TO ALL TAYLOR SWIFT FANS, I AM NOT YOUR ENEMY UM, I’M NOT YOUR FRIEND EITHER THOUGH LOL,” Kanye continued.
Taylor Swift and Kanye have had a strained relationship since 2009 after the rapper interrupted the singer’s acceptance speech for the Best Female Video award at MTV’s Video Music Awards.
West has also claimed that he has helped Swift’s career, which has only heightened the tension between the two artists.
After the song’s release, Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, said Swift was never warned about the lyrics. West and his then-wife, Kardashian, have denied this and publicly debated with Swift over the matter.
Representatives for Beyonce and Swift did not respond to comment.