How could they be so Heartless?
Rapper Kanye West claims his music catalog is “being put up for sale” without his approval.
The 45-year-old Donda hitmaker rushed to Instagram on Tuesday to question Billboard’s report that his “camp” is “quietly and intermittently” shopping his publishing catalog.
The outlet reported that West’s representatives met privately with potential buyers to “examine what kind of appreciation” his discography is worth, with a figure of about $175 million.
“Like Taylor Swift…my publishing house is being put up for sale without my knowledge. Not for sale,” the 24-time Grammy Award winner wrote on his Instagram Story.
The rapper referenced Swift’s famous feud with ex-manager Scooter Braun after he sold her Big Machine Label Group masters for more than a reported $300 million.
Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings LLC signed on the dotted line to the Nashville-based independent record label in June 2019. The sale spanned Swift’s catalog from her 2006 self-titled debut album to 2017’s “Reputation.”
In response, the 11-time Grammy Award winner is re-recording her albums.
When Braun, who manages pop powerhouses like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, first acquired her masters, Swift said she was “exhausted.”
“Scooter has taken my life’s work that I haven’t been able to buy,” Swift wrote in the lengthy Tumblr post. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to fall into the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
If West chooses to take a similar route, it would be a much more complicated undertaking, as he would have to erase the hundreds of samples that comprise his many tracks.
The news comes shortly after West’s revelation that he has never read a book in his life.
“For me, reading is like eating Brussels sprouts. And talking is like getting the Giorgio Baldi corn ravioli,” he said on an episode of the “Alo Mind Full” podcast.
Vidak For Congress has reached out to West’s representatives for comment.