Kanye West supposedly reveals he’s retiring from music in leaked texts to rapper

Rapper Kanye West has apparently revealed a major career update in leaked texts sent to a fellow rapper.

Kanye West appears to be calling it quits on his music career.

News of the US rapper’s retirement plans were revealed in an alleged text message exchange with rapper Rich The Kid, who uploaded a screenshot to his Instagram Story of messages purportedly sent by ‘Ye’ – the name West has been known by legally since 2021.

In the texts, West appeared to say he was stepping away from the industry because he was uncertain of what lies ahead.

“I’m retiring from professional music. Not sure what else to do,” West supposedly wrote.

Rich The Kid – real name Dimitri Roger – tried to talk the rapper out of retirement, claiming West is one of the greatest in the game.

Kanye West apparently wants to retire from music.

The texts appear to be sent by West to fellow rapper Rich The Kid. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

“Retire? Why ? How ? The [people] NEED you the music you & Ty & we have made was the BIGGEST STAMP in culture to this date In 2024,” RTK wrote, referring to their fellow rapper Ty Dolla $ign.

RTK then encouraged West to work on future projects like Vultures 2, his rumoured follow-up to his album Vultures 1, which he released independently in February.

“Drop Ye about mine & V2 and we do it all over again the kids need you big bra fasho maybe some time to chill but retiring ain’t it,” RTK replied.

Rich The Kid (right) and Quavo support West at a screening of his Netflix documentary, jeen-yuhs, back in 2022. Picture: Charley Gallay/Getty Images

RTK deleted the text message exchange about the alleged retirement from his Instagram Story about 30 minutes after originally posting it, and replaced it with another message.

“ACTUALLY WE DROPPING FRIDAY,” RTK shared along with the tracklist for his new album coming out on July 19th, which features West on the song Plaine Jane.

This apparent retirement retraction sparked talk it was all a marketing ploy, with fans wondering if RTK and West were laying the groundwork for a Vultures 2 release.

Rich The Kid also revealed West would appear in his new album.

“Hard to believe this but i feel like he’s capping,” one tweeted, using the slang word for lying.

“Willing to bet this is marketing,” another claimed, while another joked: “bruh gonna unretire in like 20 min.”

While it remains to be seen if West is in fact retiring from music, his fans were not down with the news.

“BOOOOOOOOOO NEVER Ngl I never thought I would hear him use the word retirement in life,” one fan tweeted, with another replying: “That’s what happens when people don’t respect your genius. If it is true yeah should be mentioned with the greats of all time. An artist before anything.”

“The end of an era,” another tweeted.

Controversies aside, West has experienced massive success as a rapper. He has dropped 10 studio albums and taken home an impressive 24 Grammy wins from 75 nominations.