The 5 Craziest Moments From Kanye West’s Drink Champs Episode

Episodes of Drink Champs are almost always worth the watch (and the exorbitant run time), regardless of who the week’s guest is. So when The Artists Formerly Known as Kanye West (now, apparently, just “Ye”) appeared on N.O.R.E.’s and DJ EFN’s podcast November 4, it naturally set the internet alight.

West set the tone early, railing against the concept of home ownership, and explaining his personal ethos of self-determination.

“I think my whole existence is about–not being out of control, but being out of their control. Being in control of yourself,” he said. “My home is just when my daughter facetimes me. That’s when my home is.”

During his appearance, West makes interesting points about how he felt Drake instigated their bad blood, coupling that with some signature Kanye imaginative claims (“I’m a xerox printer. Meaning I can see a dinosaur bone and build a dinosaur out of it, mentally”), and some frustrating assertions about cancel culture.

The two-and-a-half-hour conversation is full of noteworthy tidbits including West’s vaccination status (“I only got one of the shots, so I’m half-cinnated”), his fashion takes, and, oh yeah, pretty much every significant figure in his orbit from Kim Kardashian to Drake to Big Sean to Donald Trump.

Here are some of the key moments from Kanye’s Drink Champs appearance that will stay at the forefront of the public’s mind for the foreseeable future.

Kanye said he would “absolutely'' do a Verzuz against Drake, and opens up about their fraught relationship.

Early in the conversation, N.O.R.E. asks West if he would do a Verzuz, and West said yes, but with certain conditions.

“Absolutely, but I would need about four people to go against me at one time,” he said. “I need producers, I need people who make good albums. I need people who make radio hits. I need every single Gemini, specifically.”

The conversation then quickly turns to who he would be pitted against–with West naming Drake and the hosts also suggesting Jay-Z (West explained he would never battle Hov because “that’s my boss”). West said he would comfortably beat Drake, which served as an in for N.O.R.E. to inquire about the many recent twists and turns of the two superstars’ feud.

“Drake don’t do an outright diss song where it’s a headshot. He’s gonna set it up like war,” West said, throwing in a curious Hitler reference. “He’s gonna do stuff like, live five blocks down the street from you. He’s gonna go and DM every single girl in your family, every single girl around your family. All your n***as’ girls. It’s away games and home games. This is professional rap.”

West even likened his antics with Drake to Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield’s ear. He further took exception to a line on Drake’s “7am on Bridle Path,” which many interpreted as being a Kanye diss (“I could give a fuck about who designing your sneakers and tees / Have somebody put you on a Gildan, you play with my seed”).

“I felt like everybody should go to Drake and say, ‘You ain’t saying that to North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm’s dad.’ He could be saying shit that’s poking at me, and driving me crazy and then if I do something that seems crazy, then they’re just blaming me,” he said.

In an attempt to resolve the issue, West also said he made a group text with Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Drake, and Travis Scott. It’s possible that the screenshot that went viral in August–where West shared an image of the Joker and wrote “I’ve been fucked with by nerd ass jock n***as like you my whole life” is from this chat.

“One of the lines I said that was legend, was ‘I’m worth more than all of y’all on this text combined,’” he recalled.

West was asked about cancel culture, repeatedly saying “I love it, I’m above it.”

Because of his public support of Donald Trump, his comments about slavery, and many of the figures he’s surrounded himself with, Kanye has been a magnet for criticism in recent years. During the podcast, he was asked for his thoughts on cancel culture.

“When I sit next to Marilyn Manson and DaBaby right after both of them got cancelled for five songs, it’s like, ‘They can’t cancel us all,’” he said. “This is 1984 mind-control we’re in.”

At the final live DONDA listening, West was criticized for bringing out DaBaby in the midst of the controversy around his homophobic Rolling Loud comments and Marilyn Manson, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and abuse.

N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN asked Kanye whether his previous support of Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again movement made it a challenge to reach certain artists on the left end of the political spectrum. In a July 2020 Forbes interview West said he no longer supported Trump, but seemed to go back on that here.

“I still got a red hat on today, I'll let y'all know that,” he said. (This also complicates a widely quoted Jay-Z line from DONDA’s “Jail,” where he says “Hol' up, Donda, I'm with your baby when I touch back road / Told him, ‘Stop all of that red cap, we goin' home.’”)

Just Blaze caught some of the harshest criticism of the night.

Of all Kanye’s quotes, his shot at Just Blaze might be the one that sent rap purists into the biggest frenzy. When asked during the podcast whether he thought Just Blaze or Swizz Beatz was the better producer, his response was scathing.

“Swizz Beatz, definitely, because Just Blaze is a copycat, you know. He gets credit for The Blueprint, and I did the first half of The Blueprint, and he just copied my half. I mean, look where I’m at today and look where he’s at today,” West said.

West and Just Blaze were the principle producers for many of the great 2000s Roc-a-Fella projects, but haven’t had much to do with each other in recent years.

Just Blaze responded thoughtfully with a lengthy statement on social media. He wrote, “None of what was said tonight regarding me fits with any of our history or our previous interactions–particular in light of very recent attempts to work together again.” The producer, who has recently worked with artists like Westside Gunn and Vic Mensa, also said that while he’s happy for Kanye’s level of fame and success, it’s not where he wants his career to be

.Former G.O.O.D. Music artists Big Sean and John Legend were skewered, too.

“I already decided that when I die on my tombstone it’s going to say, ‘I deserve to be here because I signed Big Sean,’” West said to a few laughs, but mostly audible shock. “The worst thing I’ve ever done was sign Big Sean.”

Eventually, Kanye explained that he felt both Sean and John Legend “got used quick by the Democrats to come at their boy that actually changed their lives,” and he was upset they didn’t support his ill-fated bid for the presidency. Sean celebrated Joe Biden’s win in Michigan, while Legend performed at his campaign rallies and inaugural celebration.

The timing of this is noteworthy as, last week, Sean said publicly he was no longer signed to G.O.O.D. because he “had to start getting a bigger cut.” Legend left G.O.O.D. a few years back, expressing gratitude for West’s involvement in his early career but saying, “I just felt like there was no need for us to continue that particular version of our relationship.”

A good natured Sean posted before the episode “I just got asked to be on the next Drink Champs so I’m assuming Ye talkin’ crazy.” He also shared a photo of he and West from after the interview and wrote “Was just [with] this man, he ain’t say none of that!”

According to Kanye, Kim Kardashian is “still my wife.”

Though Kim Kardashian announced intentions to divorce Kanye back in February, that hasn’t been finalized, and West appears to have a different idea of where the relationship is headed. “She’s still my wife,” Kanye said resolutely.

West also bashed Saturday Night Live, one of his long-time foes, which had Kardashian host in October. During her opening monologue, she said, “So when I divorced him, you have to know it came down to just one thing: his personality. I know it sounds mean, but people keep telling me that comedy comes from truth. And if there's one thing that I always strive to be, it's genuine."

“SNL making my wife say ‘I divorced him’ on TV because they just wanted to get that bar off. I’ve never even seen the papers. We’re not even divorced,” West said on Drink Champs. “My kids want their parents to stay together. I want us to be together.”

(The podcast hosts do not ask West about the recent rumors that Kardashian is romantically involved with Pete Davidson, which many have taken as an indication that the episode was recorded at least a few weeks ago.)

Kim also figured into the larger conversation around Drake. “I had this conversation with Drake where he [said], ‘I never fucked Kim,’ and I was like, ‘But you acted like you did. You’ve got bars that’s like ‘Hidden hills / Give your wife the chills.’ It’s like somebody throwing a marble and hiding their hand,’” West said.