Kanye West applies to officially change his name to Ye

25 August 2021, 11:16 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

(Kanye West)

Kanye West has formally applied to change his name to Ye, nearly three years on from tweeting about changing his name.

As BBC reports, Kanye West cited "personal reasons" for the name change in court documents filed with Los Angeles Superior Court.

The application for the formal name change comes nearly three years after Kanye West tweeted about wanting to be called "Ye", a few months after releasing his 2018 album ye.

the being formally known as Kanye West

I am YE
— ye (@kanyewest) September 29, 2018

In the same year, he spoke about the name change during radio interview, revealing it also has a religious meaning, "I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you'," he told host Big Boy. "So I'm you, I'm us, it's us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye - just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything."

He's due to host a third listening party for his long-awaited album Donda tomorrow (26 August), and has relocated from Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz stadium to Chicago's Soldier Field stadium for the event. A picture has since made the rounds online of a team building a replica of his childhood home in the stadium.

Kanye West's manager said last week that he will "absolutely" release Donda after this week's listening party in Chicago.