Kid Cudi has defended performing with Kanye West in Chicago on Friday night.
Cudi played in support of the controversial 24-timeGrammy-winning artist as he made a return to the Windy City for a two-date gig. The Day n Nite artist has made amends with West, also known as Ye, who signed him to his GOOD Music label in 2008.
On Saturday, Cudi responded to online criticism, telling one disapproving fan, “I understand ur frustration, I don’t really care if ur disappointed in me. That man is my brother.
“U don’t have a relationship w him like I do,” Cudi continued. “Damn near 2 decades of art and friendship. U not family. So I get it. I’ve been around Ye, and I can honestly say talking to him now is how it use to be when I first signed to him, but even better.”
The Free artist added, “He was dealing w mental health struggles for years and now he’s good. Everyone deserves some grace when they family. I was the hardest on him out of anybody. I held him accountable. He apologised, and it was sincere. But like I said, u not family so I get it.”
Following West’s antisemitic rants last year, including a pro-Hitler song, for which he apologised with a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal in January, Cudi told West he was “done” with the Donda artist.
“And it breaks my heart, because I loved Kanye, you know?” he shared at the time. “I really loved him, he was a part of my life changing. And at some point, he was a really good friend, but the man that he has become, I don’t know that version of him, and it’s heartbreaking.”
Following his public apology, West embarked on his Ye Live Concert Tour in April, which will continue in Jakarta, Indonesia on 24 October.
He has run into trouble playing in the UK and France over his antisemitism.
