Kanye West, now known as Ye, has always been a lightning rod for controversy, but his 2025 revelations took things to a whole new level. On April 21, 2025, he dropped a bombshell on social media, announcing a new song called “COUSINS” and making shocking claims about his childhood. The song, which appeared on his then-upcoming album “CU-K” (originally titled “WW3”), contained graphic lyrics detailing s**ual experimentation with his relative when they were kids.
Ye claimed they were influenced by stumbling upon homos*xual adult magazines in his late mother Donda West’s closet. The lyrics were explicit, with lines like “My name is Ye and I s***ed my cousin’s d**k till I was 14” and “We seen some n**s kiss, and we ain’t know what that s**t mean / Then we start reenacting everything that we had seen.” The internet erupted, with some questioning his mental state while others speculated whether this was another one of his attention-grabbing stunts.
Kanye West’s 2025 Drama: ‘Cousins’ Song, Controversial Lyrics & Explosive Tweets
The person in question has been a shadowy figure in Ye’s past references. Back in 2018, during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Ye mentioned having a close relative serving a life sentence for murder, saying, “My cousin is locked up for murder and I love him.” Kim Kardashian later referenced this same guy in her criminal justice reform work, revealing he was convicted at just 17 years old for taking the life of a pregnant woman.
However, Ye never publicly named him, leaving fans to piece together fragments of information. In 2025, he connected the dots himself, suggesting that their childhood encounters played a role in his violent tendencies. He even insinuated guilt, saying he introduced him to explicit material at age six. Whether this was a genuine confession or part of a larger narrative for his album remained unclear, but it certainly got people talking.
The song “COUSINS” wasn’t just controversial for its lyrics—its release was accompanied by a bizarre, unsettling music video. The visuals spliced together video game clips, distorted childhood photos, and near-p****graphic imagery, creating a jarring experience that left viewers divided. Some argued it was a raw depiction of childhood trauma, while others accused Ye of exploiting a sensitive topic for shock value.
Kanye West did WHAT??? pic.twitter.com/w3nFVEBsQX
— axel ☔️ (@luhaxel) April 21, 2025
The track itself was sonically abrasive, blending industrial beats with distorted vocals, making it one of his most unsettling releases to date. Critics pointed out the hypocrisy in Ye’s past condemnations of media corruption while he now detailed his own early exposure to adult content. The timing was also suspicious, coming amid his ongoing public feuds with the Kardashians, whom he accused of similar behavior.
Social media reactions were predictably chaotic. Some fans defended Ye, framing the song as a cathartic release of repressed trauma. Others called it a desperate attempt to stay relevant after years of erratic behavior, including his antisemitic remarks in 2022 and his failed presidential bids. Memes flooded Twitter, with users joking about the absurdity of the situation, while psychologists weighed in on the potential psychological implications of Ye’s claims.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian remained silent, likely avoiding further entanglement in his unpredictable narrative. The only family member who vaguely addressed it was his cousin Ricky Anderson, a music executive, who simply tweeted, “Pray for healing,” without directly acknowledging the allegations.
The bigger question was whether any of Ye’s claims could be verified. No legal records or family statements confirmed his story, leaving it in a gray area between confession and performance art. Some speculated that the entire thing was a metaphor for broader themes in his album, like guilt, corruption, and childhood innocence lost. Others believed it was a calculated move to dominate headlines, something Ye has mastered over the years. Either way, “COUSINS” became one of the most dissected musical releases of 2025, with think pieces analyzing everything from its lyrical content to its possible ties to Ye’s mental health struggles.
