Kanye West and Kid Cudi are seemingly burying the hatchet after their falling out.
Cudi, 39, and West, 46, reunited on Thursday, December 14, during a listening event for Vultures, West’s joint album with Ty Dolla $ign. Cudi and West — who wore a red outfit featuring the double-headed eagle branding of his Vultures project — were seen hugging and smiling in footage taken at the event, seemingly squashing their beef.
Fans also heard a preview of a song possibly titled “Gun to My Head,” which featured Cudi’s vocals, per Complex. It’s unclear whether these vocals were recorded for this project or reused from a previous session.
In April 2022, Cudi tweeted that he appeared alongside West on Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry because he “did this song a year ago when I was still cool [with] Kanye.” At the time, however, the rappers weren’t on good terms.
Cudi and West, who have had an on-again, off-again friendship over the years, had a very public falling out last year over Cudi’s bond with Pete Davidson. West tweeted in February 2022 that Cudi “will not be on Donda because he’s friends with you know who,” referring to Davidson, 30, who at the time was dating West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian (The SNL alum and Kardashian, 43, called it quits in August 2022 after nine months together.)
Cudi fired back at West’s public shaming via X (formerly Twitter), telling him, “I don’t wanna be on ur album u f—kin dinosaur.”
The feud between the Kids See Ghosts collaborators intensified in July 2022 when West dropped out of his headlining slot at Rolling Loud Miami. Cudi stepped in as West’s replacement, but West joined Lil Durk for a surprise appearance, playing “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1,” which features Cudi on the recorded version. At the festival, Cudi walked off the stage after being pelted one too many times with objects thrown by the crowd, cutting his set short.
In August 2022, Cudi spoke to Esquire about his falling out with West. “I’ve watched so many people throughout the years that are close to him be burned by him doing some f–ked up s–t,” he said. “And then they turn around and forgive him. And there’s no repercussions. You’re back cool with this man. He does it over and over. … If you can’t be a grown man and deal with the fact that you lost your woman? That’s not my f–king problem.”
West’s reunion with Cudi comes more than one year after Ye faced universal condemnation for making antisemitic remarks. Days after holding a Yeezy fashion show where models wore outfits bearing the slogan “White Lives Matter,” West tweeted in October 2022 that he was going “death con 3 on Jewish People.”
His comments ended his professional relationships with Adidas, The Gap, Balenciaga and more. In December 2022, West continued to outrage fans by declaring that he “loves Hitler” while appearing on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Info Wars talk show.
During the Las Vegas listening party for Vultures — which was slated to drop on Friday, December 15, before being pulled from Apple Music — West appeared to go on another rant in which he doubled down on his antisemitic views while attacking everyone from Jay-Z to Donald Trump. As influencer YesJulz broadcasted on Instagram Live (footage of which was circulated online), West went off about how many celebrities have their “kids in that Zionist School,” referring to Sierra Canyon. He later shouted, “Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye. Third party. Sponsor that.”
West’s Vultures had already raised eyebrows before his rant. The artwork used for the project is “Landscape With Graves” by Caspar David Freidrich, whom The Guardian notes was one of Hitler’s favorite artists, and the typography has drawn comparisons to National Socialist Black Metal aesthetics.
