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Kanye West’s beef with Wiz Khalifa just went supernova on Twitter

Kanye West’s beef with Wiz Khalifa just went supernova on Twitter

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What if Twitter isn't doomed? What if Twitter is dope? #wizwearscoolpants

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Here at The Verge, we've spent a lot of time agonizing over the future of Twitter over the last few days. The company is leaking executives left and right; it's hard to use and confusing for people who aren't already power users; no one is sure how to right the ship. Our editor-in-chief Nilay Patel said it best yesterday afternoon: "So I think Twitter has a deep existential problem, which is that no one knows what Twitter is for, or how people should use it." That's a great question: what is Twitter for?

Here's an answer: Twitter is for people who love watching flagrant, petty, hilarious celebrity beef unfold. What's on today's menu? Kanye West changed the title of his album from SWISH to WAVES last night, a switch that inspired some tweeted shade from fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa; in one tweet, Khalifa wrote, "Hit this kk and become yourself," a seeming reference to West's wife Kim Kardashian. (Khalifa now says he was talking about a specific strain of weed.)

Kanye's tweets about Amber Rose cross the line

That perceived slight was enough to set West off, and he's spent the last 30 minutes batting back at Wiz over the quality and authenticity of his music, his clothing choices, the mother of his child (model Amber Rose, who is also West's ex-girlfriend), and Wiz's cellphone number. (The tweets about Rose mark the point where the rant becomes a little unsavory.) If you just want the highlights, consider that Kanye has a) used the hashtag #wizwearscoolpants, b) promoted his wife's custom emoji line, c) claimed to own Khalifa's child, and d) repeatedly proclaimed himself the greatest artist of all time. (He's also getting a ton of free album promotion, and I tip my cap to him in that regard.)

Celebrity feuds might not be a sustainable endgame for Twitter as a platform, but you can't watch something this insane and delightful unfold in real time anywhere else. West's best bursts are embedded below:

Update January 27th 3:30PM ET: West has deleted the great majority of his tweets regarding Khalifa — all of the negative ones, basically — but their content is preserved in the embeds below. "I'ma take these down 'cause it's all about positive energy," writes West. "Blessings, blessings, positive energy, blessings." West is still tweeting, and relevant ones are being added as they're posted.

Khalifa's new album Khalifa is being released on February 5th. West's WAVES is being released a little less than a week later on February 11th.


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