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Kanye West Talks About ‘Being Bipolar’ in New Album

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Kanye West dropped his new album, “ye,” on Friday after a small launch party in the mountains of Wyoming Thursday night. While fans have speculated about his mental health, West confirmed he has bipolar disorder on his new album.

• What is Bipolar disorder?

West shot the album cover on his iPhone on the way to the launch party, his wife, Kim Kardashian West, tweeted on Friday. Over a picture of mountains, West wrote, “I hate being Bi-Polar. It’s awesome.” On the track “Yikes,” West calls bipolar disorder his superpower and says it “ain’t no disability.” He also mentions taking his medications and going off them.

In April, fans wondered if West was experiencing a manic episode because of “erratic” tweeting. The rapper tweeted about everything from his support for President Trump to his shoe brand over a short time period. Some people equated his support for Trump to mental illness.

“You’re allowed to criticize West’s comments, but it’s unfair to assume West’s views are influenced by being ‘bipolar’ or experiencing a manic state,” Sarah Schuster, The Mighty’s mental health editor, wrote of West’s “erratic” tweeting. “Even if he did stop taking medication and was currently manic, that fact alone shouldn’t be what sparks criticism.”

While West has been somewhat open about mental health in the past, he never said he had bipolar disorder specifically. In 2010, West revealed he had contemplated suicide, but he would not “give up on life again.” 

Fans and others on Twitter had mixed reviews on West’s lyrics about bipolar disorder and the album’s cover.

You can find West’s new album on Spotify.

Image via Creative Commons/Jason Persse

Originally published: June 1, 2018
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