Kanye West Declares Himself ‘New Moses,’ Says He Won’t Release New Music Till Freed From Universal and Sony/ATV Deals

Kanye West took a break from his presidential campaign to make some declarations about his music career Monday, saying that he will refuse to release any new music until his record company, Universal Music Group, and his publisher, Sony/ATV, free him from their deals.

He quickly followed that up by saying that Drake and J. Cole must apologize to him — although whether this was a further condition for releasing new music was unclear — and asking for a meeting with Jay-Z.

“I’m not putting no more music out till I’m done with my contract with Sony and Universal,” he tweeted. “On God … in Jesus name … come and get me.” The statement was followed by an unexplained emoji of a skier.

“Vivendi family I’m in Calabassas,” he added. “Come holla at me.”

Following that, he started going after on some of his contemporaries in the music world. “I need a publicly apology from J Cole and Drake to start with immediately … I’m Nat Turner … I’m fighting for us.”

Thereafter followed a tweetstorm that invoked Jay-Z’s given name, with an apology for misspelling it:

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“I’m the 2nd richest black man in America … I need all my people with me for us to get free.”

“I’m waiting to meet with Sean Carter also.”

“My bad I meant Shawn … no disrespect to my big bro.”

“I’m not industry bro … I don’t care… I’m in service to Christ … we need world healing … I miss my brothers… I refuse to argue with black men on labels we don’t own… even twitter.”

“I have the utmost respect for all brothers … we need to link and respect each other… no more dissing each other on labels we don’t own.”

“I’m sure Steve Stoute was hurt that he didn’t do the McDonald’s deal … Steve’s a good man Trav is a good man … my brothers let’s rise up … we don’t even own these companies.”

“Let’s stop killing each other … let’s show God that we are Gods people … my ego gets the best of me too… God doesn’t measure us by money in his kingdom … let’s love each other… I love my brothers and I miss my friends … real talk.”

West seems to be expressing having an issue regarding Scott’s deal with McDonald’s for a “Travis Scott meal.” Wrote Pitchfork on Sunday: “Perhaps the most insidious thing Travis Scott has stolen from Kanye West is the desire to be forever recognized by classic American institutions and corporations.” As for Stoute’s place in West’s tweets about the fast-food chain, he is the exec who revealed that Pusha T wrote the “I’m lovin’ it” jingle years ago.

The rapper-producer seemed to have second thoughts about identifying himself as “the second richest black man in America.” He soon tweeted:

“I deleted that tweet about riches… the wealth is in our love of family and our brothers and our service to God … let’s rise up… let’s communicate.”

The exact trigger for West’s upset remained elusive at this point in the tweetstorm. West has famously had issues with Sony/ATV, which owns EMI Publishing, the company that holds his catalog. West and the companies were reported to have settled out of court in January. He remains listed on Sony/ATV’s roster.

In June and July, West teased a supposedly imminent album, first called “God’s Country” and then “Donda,” named after his late mother. He even released an apparent track list days before the would-be July 24, which came and went with no explanation. He subsequently released an apparent cover for the album but did not set a new date.

West has recently released exclusively gospel-oriented music, with both “Jesus Is King” and “Jesus Is Born” coming out in 2019. In August, the two albums earned him three nominations for Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association.