Kanye West: “Do not ask me to do a fucking NFT”

Kanye West has asserted his commitment to physical art forms, declaring on social media that he will not be joining the trend of artists releasing non-fungible tokens (or NFTs).

READ MORE: Divorce, Drake disses and problematic features: 10 talking points from Kanye West’s ‘DONDA’

“My focus is on building real products in the real world,” the rapper – who is legally known as Ye – wrote in a handwritten letter posted to his Instagram page today (February 1). He cites “real food”, “real clothes” and “real shelter” as three of his current focal points, before making a very clear demand of his fanbase: “Do not ask me to do a fucking NFT.”

West isn’t barring the possibility of exploring the option later, though, with his letter ending, “Ask me later.”

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Though he’s adamant on keeping off the blockchain for now, West has utilised digital formats in the past. In 2013, for example, he declared his that ‘Yeezus’ album would mark the end of the physical CD – and while its follow-up, 2016’s ‘The Life Of Pablo’, has indeed remained exclusive to digital formats, all three of West’s subsequent albums have been released on CD and vinyl.

For now, at least, crypto collectors hoping to “own” an official ‘Donda 2’ NFT will be out of luck. In the caption shared with his letter, West said: “STOP ASKING ME TO DO NFT’s I’M NOT FINNA CO-SIGN … FOR NOW I’M NOT ON THAT WAVE I MAKE MUSIC AND PRODUCTS IN THE REAL WORLD.”

Meanwhile, today came with the news that Marilyn Manson, who featured on the ‘Donda’ track ‘Jail Pt 2’ and appeared at one of West’s album listening parties in Chicago last year, is reportedly working heavily with West on ‘Donda 2’.

According to ‘Donda’ producer and West collaborator Digital Nas, Manson has been spotted in the studio with west multiple times. “[West] doesn’t want Marilyn to play rap beats,” the producer told Rolling Stone. “He wants Marilyn to play what he makes, and then Ye will take parts of that and sample parts of that and use parts of that, like he did [generally when making] ‘Yeezus’.

Last week, West announced that ‘Donda 2’ is set for release on February 22, and confirmed that the album is executive produced by Future. He has ambitious plans for the sequel album, saying yesterday (January 31) that he envisions it being played at momentous occasions, including births and funerals.

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