Kanye West is in a good place, thanks in part to his busy work schedule.
“Kanye has been so busy with all the new albums,” a source close to the rapper tells Us Weekly exclusively. “Kanye is very clear, super focused right now. The version of him today is very different than the one we saw a few weeks ago.”
For several months, West, 41, was cooped up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he was working on a whopping five albums: his own, Ye; a collaborative project with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts; and three more that he produced, including Pusha T’s Daytona and Nas’ Nasir.
“He’s focused on his craft right now and is excited [about] how much everyone is liking his new music,” the source tells Us.
Prior to releasing new music, the 21-time Grammy winner made headlines for all the wrong reasons. He called President Donald Trump his “brother” and claimed they both are “dragon energy” in a headline-making April 25 tweet. Moments later, he posted a photo of himself wearing a red cap with Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” prompting the real estate mogul, 72, to reply, “Thank you Kanye, very cool!”
A source told Us at the time that West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, “tried pointing out to Kanye that the posts were only adding to speculation about his mental health,” but he “refuses to listen.”
Then the Adidas designer stopped by the TMZ newsroom on May 1 for an impromptu interview that covered everything from his secret liposuction procedure (“I didn’t want y’all to call me fat like you called Rob [Kardashian]”) to his subsequent addiction to opioids. He also suggested that “400 years” of slavery “sounds like a choice,” a comment that drew widespread criticism from fans and celebrities alike.
Even the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, 37, was taken aback by her husband’s remarks. “Kim was really upset that Kanye chose to have a very serious discussion in a place like that,” a source told Us on May 5. “A lot of things he said were very serious. If he had said them in different, more planned out way, it would be a different story, even positive. Kim is trying to be a supportive wife … but it is hard.”
