Kanye West Meets With Donald Trump at Trump Tower – Today in Hip-Hop

On this day, Dec. 13, in hip-hop history... 

2016: Less than one month after the news broke that Chicago native Kanye West voluntarily admitted himself into the UCLA Medical Center for a mental evaluation following the cancellation of the remaining dates on his Saint Pablo tour, the producer/rapper visited Trump Tower in New York City for a meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 13, 2016.

In the weeks that led up to the now infamous meeting, 'Ye was vocal in his support for the controversial President-elect, praising Donald Trump both for the way he speaks to the public and for his election campaign's approach as a whole. “I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted for Trump,” Kanye said to fans during a Saint Pablo tour performance in San Jose, CA. “There’s nonpolitical methods to speaking that I like, that I feel were very futuristic. And that style, and that method of communication, has proven that it can beat a politically correct way of communication. And I f--k with that. I actually think that his approach was absolutely genius. Because it f-----g worked!”

Along with the instantaneous boos and jeers from the live crowd following the on-stage rant, the Chi-town artist's bold statements and political stance were met with a barrage of negative reactions. Many of Yeezy's fans and music industry peers voiced their disappointment in the days that followed. Q-Tip, for example, who had recently worked with West on A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service album, said in an interview at the time that he'd like to have a "serious discussion" with 'Ye about his remarks.

By the time the College Dropout walked into Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on that morning in 2016, the rumor mill was spinning fast, with many speculations flying around as to what the nature of the meeting would be. Most speculated that the discussion would be along the same lines as the tech summit that the President-elect was holding at the time, during which he would meet with representatives from some of the technology industry's leading companies. Despite opinions from critics who said that the summit was just his way of trying to get a one-up on an industry that, for the most part, denounced his agenda, Trump said that the summit would be about creating more jobs and keeping those jobs afloat. 'Ye, on the other hand, reportedly went into the sit-down with the soon-to-be President with the intentions of solidifying his relationship with Trump in hopes that he could leverage their alliance to promote peace on the often violent streets of the rapper's hometown, Chicago.

When all was said and done, the G.O.O.D. Music founder took to social media in a series of since-deleted tweets to provide a bit of insight into what happened behind closed doors at the meeting. "I wanted to meet with Trump today to discuss multicultural issues," West wrote. "These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago. I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change."

As expected, both fans and active members of the Hip-Hop community reacted to what Kanye had to say about the controversial meeting, and many of those opinions were mixed. While some made light of the situation with memes and tweets joking about what went on in the meeting, MCs like YG and Nipsey Hussle let it be known that they were not at all happy about the face-to-face discussion. The reactions weren't all negative though, with artists like RZA and A$AP Ferg acknowledging at the time that Yeezy's relationship with Donald Trump could possibly serve as a bridge-building tool in America.

In the months that followed, Donald Trump would be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States and the Kanye controversy would continue, prompting The Life of Pablo artist to take an extended hiatus from his social media accounts before re-surfacing back in the spring of 2018.

Since that time, Mr. West has returned to putting out music, producing albums for a number of artists on the G.O.O.D. Music roster. With a concept that came to fruition over the course of several weeks between May and June of this year, a series of projects spearheaded by Yeezy were released. The extended roll-out included Pusha T's acclaimed Daytona album, Kanye's solo effort, Ye, his joint album with Kid Cudi titled, Kids See Ghosts, Nasir from Nas and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. 

Ye's full-blown return to the limelight, however, has certainly not been strictly about music. The man behind "Through the Wire" has been shrouded in more Trump-related controversy throughout 2018, ranging from his most recent visit with the President to wearing his "Make America Great Again" hat during his appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Last month, the "I Love It" rapper/producer announced that he will once again be delaying his next album, Yandhi, citing the fact he doesn't think it's ready for release just yet.

See Photos of Kanye West's Different Looks Over the Years