In a now-deleted Instagram post, it was said that Kanye West claims he turned down a $100 million offer from Apple writing, “No one can pay me to be disrespected.” This came after the rapper artist slammed Apple Music, among other streaming services, for undervaluing artists in a series of Instagram posts.
It was said that while he didn’t give any details on what the deal was centered around, we can speculate it had something to do with his upcoming album Donda 2.
On February 18, It was gathered that West announced that the sequel album to his massive hit Donda, which amassed a record-breaking 60 million streams on Apple Music in the first 24 hours, will only be available on his platform, the Stem Player and he made the announcement of his decision which didn’t come softly but rather in typical Kanye West fashion, calling for an “anti-streaming revolution,” and how “it’s time to take control.”
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West said on Instagram:
Donda 2 will only be available on my platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube. Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.
In a series of follow-up social media posts, it was stated that it seems he’s starting to feel the effects of his decision.
And on Saturday, in an Instagram post spotted by HipHopDX, West posted a Messages conversation stating “From Damian. Please inform Ye that the apple is no longer doing the sponsorship deal.”
He wrote in the caption, “Duh” with an eye roll emoji and laughing emoji.
According to DJ Akademiks on Twitter, apple ending the sponsorship, which reportedly came with a nice $2 million check, came at no surprise given West’s comments. Apple was set to stream the Donda 2 listening event hosted in Miami on February 22 (2/22/22).
A few hours later, it was reported that Kanye West posted another Messages conversation from “Randy” at Live Nation to ask him to cut a $2 million check to film the show, which Kanye West agrees to “since apple pulled on their streaming deal.”
In the same post, it was said that he seized the opportunity to criticize Apple again. “I love how Apple only sees the artist in only one way,” he wrote alongside a screenshot of the text. “They’ll sit with Daniel Ek but won’t meet with Ye.” He then continues to recount a meeting with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in a club in Stockholm.
Since, in subsequent Instagram posts, it was said that the rapper added Apple to his long list of career “beefs,” including Spotify, TikTok, Disney, Jeff Bezos, Barack Obama, Black History Month, and “the whole cast of SNL,” among others and boasts Stem Player sales surprised $2.2 million in the first 24 hours.