Twitter, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk left people on Twitter scratching their heads after a strange and cryptic tweet referencing rap artist Ye.
Over the weekend, Musk tweeted a photo of the album art for Ye's 2018 album Ye... and that's it. No commentary, no context just... Ye's album cover. He didn't even respond to any of the many comments the tweet inspired.
And it's left Twitter users wondering what the heck it all means.
The tweet could have just been a reference to whatever Musk was listening to at that particular moment. Or it could of course mean absolutely nothing.
But given Musk and Ye's illustrious history together, the tweet seems like it most likely means *something*.
The two first met in 2011 when Musk gave Ye a tour of a Tesla factory, and a bromance was quickly born, and Musk has been effusive in his praise of the rapper over the years, even penning his bio when Ye was named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People."
And during a 2018 appearance at South by Southwest, Musk even went so far as to say he was "obviously" inspired by Ye's work.
West has been similarly effusive about Musk, infamously bellowing at a group of art students in Detroit to "leave that man the f*ck alone" during an appearance in 2018.
Tellingly--and not surprisingly given Musk's antics in recent years--the pair's friendship even survived Ye's bizarre meltdown into a virulently anti-Semitic far-right darling. Musk sparked widespread outrage in 2022 when he reinstated Ye's Twitter account after taking over as CEO after Ye had been banned for essentially making a death threat against Jews on the platform.
But their friendship soured again at the end of 2022 when Ye's Twitter antics became too much even for a pretty openly far-right Musk--he banned the rapper for posting a Nazi symbol, and Ye retaliated by posting screenshots of them having a fight about it on Donald Trump's Truth Social platform.
Whatever Musk's tweet means, it has certainly raised eyebrows among some on Twitter, and generated no shortage of criticism and mockery as well.
Many theorize that Musk's tweet is some sort of mea culpa to Ye and means he's planning to let Ye back on Twitter. Let's hope not, because this is definitely a pair that doesn't need a reunion.
Mount Sinai Medical
@Acyn/X