Kanye West Asks Court to Legally Change His Name

Kanye West has filed legal documents in Los Angeles to change his name legally, TMZ reports.

In the docs obtained by the outlet, the rapper is asking the court to change his name from Kanye Omari West to his nickname, Ye. 

It’s not clear if or when the name change will occur. Since this is a pretty straightforward name change, a judge should sign off on it. In California, a name change can get denied for a couple of reasons: the person is using it to commit fraud.

Ye wrote in the court documents that the change was for “personal reasons.”

The news comes as he gears up for the listening party for his forthcoming project, Donda. The event is scheduled for Thursday at Soldier Field in Yeezy’s hometown of Chicago.

The album was initially scheduled for an August 6 release, but that was pushed back. The album is now expected to drop on Friday, but it’s been rumored that Kanye wants to drop the same day as Drake. The Toronto rapper is supposedly dropping his Certified Lover Boy album this year.

The two are currently embroiled in a back and forth after Drake’s verse on Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal” seemingly takes shots at Kanye. Some liken the hype surrounding the releases to when Kanye and 50 Cent went head to head in 2007 with Graduation and Curtis.