‘I am Ye’: Kanye West’s name change and eyebrow-raising Saturday Night Live appearance

KANYE West has made a bizarre appearance on Saturday Night Live, which saw him dress up as a Perrier bottle and cop jeers from the audience over his support of the US President.

KANYE West copped boos and jeers from the New York audience at Saturday Night Live after he went on a pro-Donald Trump rant during the closing credits of the show’s highly anticipated season premiere.

West, wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat and the show’s cast standing behind him, launched into the screed off camera, but it was caught on video by comedian Chris Rock, reports the New York Post.

“I wanna cry right now, black man in America, supposed to keep what you’re feeling inside right now,” he sang as he paced the stage.

Wowwwww only 3 people clapped. Chris Rock is laughing At @kanyewest pic.twitter.com/jAGP5OwKXD

— 2cool2blog (@2Cool2Bloggg) September 30, 2018

He continued: “The blacks want always Democrats you know it’s like the plan they did, to take the fathers out the home and put them on welfare. Does anybody know about that? That’s a Democratic plan.”

Then the rapper turned addressed his support of Mr Trump.

“There’s so many times I talk to like a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist.’ Well, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.”

Kanye West, not winning any friends at SNL with his choice of attire. Picture: NBC

Kanye West has appeared again with his MAGA cap. Picture: NBC

A smattering of applause was quickly drowned out by boos in the audience.

Variety reported that SNL cast members shook their heads during West’s unscripted rant and “the entire studio fell dead quiet”, according to the Hollywood industry site.

Rock could be heard on the video saying, “Oh, my God.”

It must be a hard life still stanning Kanye.

— Quinta (@quintabrunson) 30 September 2018

Kanye West, the meme. #SNL pic.twitter.com/0Z87XEoKDQ

— Stacy Lambe (@sllambe) 30 September 2018

West was also philosophical during his off-camera monologue.

“You wanna see the sunken place? Okay, I’m-a listen to y’all now,” West told the audience, according to Variety.

“I’m-a put my superman cape on, because this means you can’t tell me what to do. Follow your heart and stop following your mind. That’s how we’re controlled.

“You want the world to move forward? Try love.”

Earlier, the outspoken rapper, 41, performed his song I Love It dressed as a giant green bottle of Perrier mineral water.

His co-star on the explicit track, rapper Lil Pump, sported a Fiji water costume in an apparent reference to Justin Timberlake famous “Liquorville” sketch.

The sexually-charged song I Love It includes references to water, including the line, “Why you try act like you was drinking sparkling water ‘fore you came out here?”

.@kanyewest and @lilpump perform "I Love It" in Studio 8H. #SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/rZgvkzdvnX

— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) 30 September 2018

West performed K.T.S.E, a new song with Teyana Taylor, and Ghost Town with Kid Cudi.

He was expected to drop a new album, titled Yandhi, after his appearance on the long-running variety sketch show but it has still not been released.

Meantime, West today announced he would now be known professionally as “Ye”.

the being formally known as Kanye West

I am YE

— ye (@kanyewest) 29 September 2018

West previously told a US radio station: “I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means ‘you’.”

“So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us,” West said, speaking to Big Boy about the album, Ye.

“It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye … just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything.

“The album is more of a reflection of who we are.”

— with the New York Post