Flavor Flav cosigned Taylor Swift’s new song “thanK you aIMee,” which references Kim Kardashian in its title and the lyrics.
“Ya boy always says KIM,” the rapper, 65, wrote via X on Friday, April 19. “Keep It Moving.”
Flavor Flav — who previously referred to himself as “King Swiftie” — is just one of many listeners to share their thoughts following the release of Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Along with using her former relationships as inspiration, Swift appeared to reference her drama with Kardashian, 43, leaving a clue by spelling out “Kim” in capital letters in the title of “thanK you aIMee.” (Longtime fans will recognize the tactic from Swift’s earlier work.)
Swift describes a “bronze spray-tanned statue” of “Aimee,” complete with a “plaque underneath it that threatens to push me down the stairs at our school,” alluding to being bullied.
The lyrics read: “All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’ / And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel / Screamed ‘F—k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’ / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”
Elsewhere in the song, Swift seemingly gives a nod to Kardashian’s eldest daughter, North, who previously shared a video of herself dancing to Swift’s hit “Shake It Off.”
“And one day, your kid comes home singin’ / A song that only us two is gonna know is about you,” she sings.
The drama between Swift and Kardashian dates back to 2009 when Kardashian’s now-ex-husband Kanye West interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV VMAs and stated that Beyoncé deserved the award instead. West apologized at the time, but the tension resurfaced in 2016 when he referenced Swift in his song “Famous.” She objected to the line, prompting Kardashian to defend West by publicly releasing a recorded phone conversation between the two musicians.
In 2020, however, fans learned that Kardashian’s video didn’t tell the whole story. A longer version of Swift’s phone conversation leaked online, with Swift later declaring via social media that she “was telling the truth the whole time.”
“You know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family, and fans through hell for 4 years…,” Swift wrote at the time. (Kardashian insisted that her “only issue” with Swift was that she “lied” about what went down.)
Flavor Flav, for his part, is thrilled to be in the good graces of Swift — and he even “got to get some Taylor time” at the 2024 Grammys in February.
“The discussion [at the Grammys] was about me congratulating her on all her success,” he said at the time. “And me being a big fan of hers, a big supporter of hers.”
He added: “Having her acknowledge that her fan base ‘Swifties’ gave me a name, ‘King Swiftie.’”
The Tortured Poets Department is out now.
