Controversial rapper and artist Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has once again ignited intense discussion on X with a deeply personal revelation about his childhood. On April 21, 2025, Ye shared a clip of his new song "COUSINS," which details sexual experimentation with a male cousin during his youth, an experience he ties to early exposure to adult content around his house growing up.

Ye recounts discovering adult magazines in his late mother Donda’s possession as a child and sharing them with his cousin, who is now incarcerated for life for murder. He described how the two reenacted what they saw, with Ye admitting to performing sexual acts on his cousin until the age of 14. Ye frames this experience as a formative trauma, expressing guilt over it, and wondering if his actions played a role in his cousin’s later crimes. He said in the post, "Perhaps in my self-centered mess I felt it was my fault that I showed him those dirty magazines when he was 6 and then we acted out what we saw."

The full X post in question:

The song/video can be found here.

Since then, the hip hop community has weighed in on this, with a mixed responses ranging from support to shock.

ASAP Ferg publicly sent love to Ye on X, telling him that "now [he] can be whole" after getting this off his chest. He additionally hinted that Ye's recent outbursts might be due to his attempts to process this immense trauma.

Good for @kanyewest now you can be whole. When people start to act out you never know the root of the issue ! Sending love brother your a goat

— FERG (@ASAPferg) April 21, 2025

After that, Ye proclaimed that he wanted to have more control over his kids' lives, and felt that they were being taken from him. He posted that the "COUSINS" song triggered a memory about Playboy magazines being widely available for his own kids and children of the Kardashians at their homes. He stated that "as a dad" he wants to change this.