Love him or hate him, Kanye west is an avid cryptocurrency investor and advocate. Throughout the years many of Kanye’s rap verses have have referenced his experience investing in cryptocurrency. Let's take a look at some of his most infamous crypto lines:
Album: Yeezus
Lyrics:
“All I want is what I can’t buy now, coz I don’t have the money on me right now”
The name of the song speaks for itself. ‘Blood on the leaves’ is Kanye's artistic view of the state of the cryptocurrency market in January 2018. Kanye like many investors was found to be catching falling knives to the point where he was unable to keep purchasing at lower levels after exhausting all his financial resources, hence producing the line that he wished to keep purchasing but didn’t have the required funds.
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Lyrics:
No one man should have all that power, the clocks ticking I just count the hours”
Power is a strong, upbeat braggadocios track about the dominance of bitcoin when compared to altcoins. While Kanye is a bitcoin investor he has also seen the dangers of bitcoin’s ability to bring down altcoins when it declines. Kanye believes that eventually altcoins will de-couple from bitcoin and shows this by singing “ the clocks ticking, I just count the hours”.
Mixtape: Can't tell me nothing
Lyrics:
“I know that god put you infront of me so how the hell could you front on me? There’s a thousand yous there’s only one of me, I’m tripping I’m caught up in the moment right.
We often find Kanye having a battle within himself as to whether altcoins are a good thing or bad thing. This is evident in stronger which has Kanye questioning the lure of potential altcoin gains. With the explosion of altcoins Kanye expresses he is just a mere individual, he doesn’t know how to deal with all the investing possibilities open to him, hence "there's a thousand yous, there's only one of me"
Album: Yeezus
Lyrics:
“What you want a Bentley, fur coat, a diamond chain?>
In a dark profanity-laced tune about the current state of social media and large corporation dominance, Kanye asks cryptocurrency investors what they want to buy with the potential gains available in the crytpocurrency market. New Slaves is a fan favourite due to the song representing everything cryptocurrency is about; fighting the establishment.
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Lyrics:
“We above the law we don’t give a fuck bout yall”
Another braggadocios tune from Kanye, this time in reference to the news of regulation by US government departments. Cryptocurrency is often seen as a way for people to side-step governments and large corporations. Kanye reiterates this in typical Kanye-fashion.
Album: Yeezus
Lyrics:
“Enter the kingdom, but watch who you bring home, they see a black man with a white woman at the top floor they gon come to kill King Kong”
Bitcoin is also commonly known as “white woman” as it gives investors an enhanced feeling of cocaine which is commonly known as “white girl”. In this carefully structured line Kanye is painting the picture that Bitcoin investors are constantly being attacked when they enter the investment 'kingdom' but choose to invest in Bitcoin rather than stocks. He cleverly ties together Bitcoin (White woman) and a popular Gorilla Bitcoin video (King Kong) to reference the story of King Kong.
Popular Gorilla Bitcoin Video:
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Lyrics:
“I was satisfied being in love with a lie, now who to blame? You to blame? Me to blame for the pain it be pouring every time it rains”
An incredibly sad song which Kanye tries to reconcile the blame of his investment in Bitconnect. While being a successful early investor in cryptocurrency, Kanye is not without his faults. Like thousands of other people, Kanye was caught up in the demise of Bitconnect which left him with significant losses, leading him to ask Mark Zuckerberg for a loan on twitter.
Mixtape: Can't Tell Me Nothing
Lyrics:
“Excuse me, was you saying something? Uhh uhh you can’t tell me nothing”
Kanye has never been a fan of wall street, it’s no surprise that when JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon came out declaring Bitcoin was a fraud, Kanye took it personally. Shortly after Dimon’s comments Bitcoin dived before a parabolic rise which led to Kanye releasing this victory song declaring that Dimon and other Wall Street big-wigs keep their mouth shut when talking about cryptocurrency.
Album: N/A
Lyrics:
“Hello my only one, just like the morning sun, you keep rising till the sky knows your name”
Perhaps Kanye’s most personal and emotional song, a love ballad dedicated to his first investment; Bitcoin. When Kanye first invested in Bitcoin, people had no idea what bitcoin was and those that did thought he was crazy – to the point where he was sent to a hospital for psychological evaluation in 2016. Kanye’s love for Bitcoin has remained, as the price rises so does the notoriety, Kanye describes this beautifully, while some Bitcoin investors refer to 'the moon' Kanye chooses the sun to describe the future outlook for Bitcoin.