Not one to get easily swayed by others’ opinions, Lil Nas X has gone out of his way to proclaim Kanye ‘Ye’ West as his favorite rapper with a quiz filter on TikTok, leaving fans plenty conflicted about this choice — even if ultimately, many agreed.
The Montero singer, known for his extravagant persona and active social media presence, recently shared a video on TikTok using a filter with a bracket where the user is supposed to pick their favorite rapper in the industry with a sway of a head. Upon being prompted with several options, including Warren G versus Tyler, The Creator, and others, the final competition between André 3000 and Ye resulted in the latter’s victory as Lil Nas X’s favorite rapper of that bunch.
Though conflicting at best, Lil Nas X’s choice doesn’t entirely come off as a surprise to many, even with Ye’s controversial antisemitic stances that led to the rapper’s disappearance from the public eye. The rapping duo has worked together in the past, as Ye produced Lil Nas X’s hit song “INDUSTRY BABY.” In addition to their collaboration, the 23-year-old singer openly cited West as one of his inspirations and as one of the most creative artists in the Hip Hop scene, praising the producer’s work ethic more than once.
“So you know we had basically been working on the song for like a year and I went in to meet Kanye and he was super cool. He played me his album [Donda], and he’s played everybody his album now. Really talented man.”
The choice to claim West as a top rapper came at an especially odd time, considering that the Chicago-born rapper has been in the public eye for several questionable reasons in the past. Nonetheless, many fans, despite not supporting Ye’s statements, have too agreed on his musical and producing expertise, citing his discography as a reason behind his undeniable presence in the musical industry, thus forcing the question of whether art should be separated from the artist or not. Some of the comments included:
“We have 2 stop acting as if Ye isn’t one of the best the rappers of the generation, (not justifying his behaviours)”
“The flinch when you know you should not but Kanye is Kanye.”
“Andre vs ye gotta be the hardest decision ever.”
While many debated with themselves regarding their support for the controversial Chicago rapper, many others simply disagreed with Lil Nas X’s choices, including Ye’s victory over André 3000.
“Andre 3000 should have won but I like Kanye too.”
“Picking anybody in this list over Andre 3000 is insane tbh.”
Ultimately, there is no telling Lil Nas X what to do. The rapper too seemed conflicted in his choice, but in the end, he chose to endorse West’s music, although there is no way of confirming whether the “Old Town Road” rapper supports Ye’s remarks in any way — especially considering his own progressive beliefs and actions.