When Twitter was created in March 2006 by ambitious developers Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass, they might have hoped, perhaps in their wildest dreams, that their new venture would capture the attention of some of the world’s major movers and shakers.
Kanye West signed up to Twitter in July 2010, which is surely a date that’s been commemorated in Twitter HQ with a massive plaque that its employees respectfully bow to on their way to the photocopier. Yeezy’s every tweet has become a major event in itself, generating massive interest on the social platform whenever he comes up with a 140-character thought; something that’s enjoyed a particularly spike in the run-up to his seventh album (which may or may not be titled ‘Waves’).
And so, in tribute to the ceaseless entertainment that Kanye delivers for his 20.4 million followers, here’s a guide to some of his best Twitter moments.
For the sake of clarity, we’ll begin with Kanye’s first Twitter era: a simpler time, when he was far more inclined than he is today to make outlandish, stream-of-consciousness-style observations about everything, from complimentary airplane water to using kazoos in his music.
The time he raved about a little-known show on Broadway
A complimentary on-flight beverage? Be gone!
The time he was ultra-humble
The time he was ultra-humble in a bike store
And let’s not forget the time he endorsed kazoo players the world over
He ruled out a career in comedy at this point, too
Ye also pointed out the infinite logic of having a conference table
And, of course, that time he was fly for so long that he, well, see for yourself
But, on 4th October 2012, the fun and frivolity came to a screeching halt: Kanye deleted all of his tweets, promising that he would “be back soon”. Naturally, we here at NME wept for the end of this glorious age, and proceeded to look back on some of his finest tweeting moments.
And so, for 7 months, we waited. And waited. And then, probably forgot all about him and lost ourselves in some other social phenonmenon like ‘Gangnam Style’ or the Harlem Shake. But then, on 18th May, with his phone’s caps lock function firmly left on, Kanye announced his return to this most glorious of social platforms – with a promise to project songs and visuals from his last album ‘Yeezus’ on 66 buildings across the globe, no less.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/335569132214972416
And so, we were back in the flow of things.
There was the moment that Kanye professed his enjoyment for Pacific Rim
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/352660601681625088
The time that he declared the second verse of ‘New Slaves’ as the best rap verse of all time
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/358614185086693377
That rather strange rant he did about US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel then made the headlines – it was swiftly deleted
https://twitter.com/rileyeubanks/status/667154377887637504
The time he got a little thirsty over a Kim selfie
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/390744663281631233
He would later get more romantic, posting this lovely KimYe wedding shot
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/471309858537762816
When he helped Kim on her quest to break the internet
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/532399205537415170
Tweeting his apologies to Beck after his Grammy outburst last year
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/571087300974608384
Oh, and Bruno Mars too
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/571087333686005761
And then came the big announcement: it’s album time
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/571904168291532800
He was then full of praise for Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/577635990107394048
The first of many changes – here’s the announcement for ‘SWISH’
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/594928453675159553
Kanye here, preaching the idea of living for the moment
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/646504665929027584
As he’s now a parent, he’s entitled to deliver a Mumsnet-esque rant every now and again
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/652670093717934080
But don’t you ask him to do a damn thing, people
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/675934047332261888
On the whole, though, Ye’s a good guy
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/685541699775414272
Just so long as you’ve got your phone on loud ring during the night, that is
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/686060974554497026
His tribute to Bowie was a real touch of class
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/686449257767776256
ALBUM OF THE LIFE – that ol’ humility strikes again
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/692083418083921921
Let us never forget the outrageous dressing-down of Wiz Khalifa (which, unfortunately, has now been deleted)
#Trending Kanye West deleted his Wiz Khalifa rant tweets but screenshot is the greatest invention ever https://t.co/EsSglbzHwD
— Jermaine Singleton (@cookieblack) January 27, 2016
And then the subsequent denial of Amber Rose’s outlandish claims
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/692967570740224001
When he shared the contents of his recent call log
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/696817252784594944
Have you ever seen the movie Tron?
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698422992041160704
Here’s his message to the co-founder of Facebook
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698926987281371136
Don’t be liked – be great
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/699090577476993024
Just call him Walt West
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/699107322895994880
Ye’s love for Swedish meatballs is strong
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/707365972194283520
But then it was time to get honest
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/709095376830201856
Because, after all, he is an artist
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/709409643387297792
Phew. And so, without an end in sight to Kanye’s treat-Twitter-like-a-brainstorm-session policy, it really does seem like Twitter’s brain trust may have launched their service with the full intention of giving Yeezus a platform to express his dark, twisted and brilliant mind. He certainly thinks that, anyway.