Following Kanye West‘s public antisemitic comments, his tweet featuring a swastika and his vocal support of Hitler, some fans are discussing the Jewish artists the rapper previously worked with who helped boost his career in various ways.
In a viral TikTok, one user shouted out specific artists who have been major players in West’s career, including Daft Punk.
Thomas Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk, wrote the song that West’s “Stronger” samples. He also assisted the rapper on 2013’s Yeezus.
The TikTok also highlights A-Trak, who previously DJed for West on tour, and producer Gesaffelstein, who worked with West on songs such as “Black Skinhead” and “No Child Left Behind.”
All three men are Jewish.
Watch the viral TikTok, below:
The TikTok sparked discourse among fans in the comments.
“If anyone ‘made’ Ye’s career, it was Dame Dash, Jay-Z and No ID for giving him the early opportunities in his music career,” one fan argued.
Another agreed: “‘Made Kanye’s career’ *not a single mention of someone that helped him create his first album.”
“Everyone in the comments completely missing the point,” another user replied.
Someone else claimed that “Kanye has stolen Gesaffelstein’s album artworks twice.”
“All of them are wonderful people and talented musicians, it’s a shame,” someone else added in support of the artists mentioned.
West has worked with a number of Jewish artists and producers in the past, including hit-maker Rick Rubin.
According to BBC, Rubin, who worked with West on Yeezus, once described his childhood as growing up in a “loving Jewish household.”
One of West’s regular collaborators, Noah Goldstein, has worked with the rapper since 2010 on projects such as the acclaimed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezus, The Life of Pablo, Kids See Ghosts and Ye. The Jewish record producer, mixer and engineer also worked on “FourFiveSeconds,” West’s collaboration with Rihanna and Paul McCartney.
“Noah Goldstein made Kanye’s best albums. I’m a Noah Goldstein fan. Ye fell off. Listen to MOTOMAMI by ROASALÍA for more Noah Goldstein,” one fan tweeted in October 2022.
American-Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari, a Jewish artist known as “the hip-hop violinist,” worked with West on six songs for his debut album, The College Dropout.
Ben-Ari hasn’t directly commented on West’s antisemitism, but on Dec. 2, she posted a video of herself playing the violin with the caption, “Lots of healing needs to happen between our divided communities. Thank you MLK for your forever message and inspiration.”
The caption came after West compared himself to Martin Luther King, Jr. in a recent podcast interview before storming out when challenged about his antisemitic comments.
“I thought I was more Malcolm X, but I found out I’m more MLK. As I’m getting hosed down every day by the press and financially, I’m just standing there,” West said on the Timcast IRL podcast.
Notably, one of West’s former managers, Scooter Braun, is also Jewish.