Kanye West's troubled year: A timeline
“Name one genius that ain’t crazy?”
That line, off the song “Feedback” from Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” album, has become something of a rallying cry for ardent fans of the 39-year-old’s music, who find themselves time and time again having to confront his antics -- from bizarre rants to controversial proclamations.
West has had a particularly rough 2016. Click through to see the headlines he made this past year.
Jan. 26: West changes album title
After a year that already saw the rapper’s much-hyped seventh studio album go from being dubbed “So Help Me God” to “SWISH,” West changes his mind again, announcing on Twitter, “New album title, WAVES.”
This begins the absolutely bonkers rollout for what will become “The Life of Pablo.”
Jan. 27: Attack on Wiz Khalifa
After Khalifa criticizes West’s new album title on Twitter, West goes on a 17-point Twitter rant that both calls out the “Black and Yellow” rapper’s music and includes such gems as, “I think you dress cool I wish I was skinny and tall.”
During the tweetstorm, West also dissed their mutual ex, Rose, writing Khalifa “let a stripper trap you.”
Rose then got in on the drama by firing off the NSFW clap-back of the century, “Awww @kanyewest are u mad I’m not around to play in ur a**hole anymore? #FingersInTheBootyA**B***h☝.”
West denied the accusation about his sexual proclivities and eventually took down his tweets.
Feb. 2: Kim and Amber make up
In what at the time felt like the picture of the decade, West’s wife ends the rapper’s feud with his ex by sharing a photo of herself with Rose, captioned, “Tea anyone?”
Meanwhile, West settled things with Khalifa, writing, “Me and Wiz spoke yesterday. Great convo. All positive.”
Khalifa confirms to Power 105.1, “Everything’s cool. We spoke, it’s all good.”
Feb. 10: West makes one last title change
“Final track list for The Life Of Pablo,” the rapper tweets.
Interestingly enough, while the title remains the same, the final final track list will prove to be once again revised.
Feb. 11: Swift feud reignites
West and his Kardashian family gather at NYC’s Madison Square Garden for the fashion show/album release event, where Tidal live-streams the rapper debuting his new record from beginning to end.
Kid Cudi, who collaborated with West on the album, joins him onstage to celebrate the occasion.
As fans listen to the record, the track “Famous” includes the highly controversial line, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why, I made that b**ch famous,” in reference to their very infamous 2009 Video Music Awards moment.
After the superstar songwriters spent the bulk of 2015’s awards shows making up and becoming BFFs, the drama is reignited, far stronger than it ever was before.
Feb. 14: Release of "Life of Pablo"
After the release is delayed yet again, over Chance the Rapper apparently trying to get the song “Waves” back on the album, “TLOP” finally hits Tidal.
A closer examination of West’s work shows a side of the rapper more creatively experimental than ever before, and also more conflicted.
“You ain’t never seen nothing crazier than this n***a when he off his Lexapro,” West raps on the track “FML,’ referring to an antidepressant used to treat major depressive disorders and anxiety.
“They wish I would go ahead and f**k my life up, can’t let them get to me,” the Weeknd moans on the hook of the track, suggesting a dark undertone to West’s grandiose persona. The chorus then gives way to the vulnerable admission, “And even though I always f**k my life up, only I can mention me.”
The album also features references to seeing a psychiatrist on “No More Parties in L.A.,” as well as distrust and paranoia, when, on “Wolves,” the rapper suggests that he and his wife are “surrounded by the f**kin’ wolves.”
“TLOP” is critically acclaimed but disjointed, and the rapper will make several more edits in the coming weeks, revising the work already on streaming sites, which in and of itself is widely discussed as an innovation in album creation.
Feb. 15: Swift slams West at Grammys
“I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments and your fame,” she pointedly says during her Album of the Year acceptance speech, plainly referring to West’s “Famous” lyrics. “But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, some day when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”
The call-out clearly doesn’t go over well with West, who is recorded having a meltdown behind the scenes of “Saturday Night Live,” calling Swift a “fake a**,” and later during a club appearance, saying, “She not cool no more. She had two seconds to be cool and she f***ed it up.”
Feb. 26: West's family shows support
“Currently loving my husband,” Kim shares on her website. “Hating that people don’t get that Kanye will stand up against the whole world for his creativity and art.”
The Kardashian-Jenner clan also regularly rock Yeezy apparel, and Kourtney Kardashian tweets, “I want everyone to know how much I live for @kanyewest’s tweets.”
Underlying everything that happens is a West who has the full love and support of his family unit.
June 24: The infamous "Famous" video
West escalates the now-”Famous” feud by dropping a highly controversial video of the song -- which the rapper himself admits could get him in trouble -- that features West in bed with lifelike and completely naked wax figures of celebs including Kim, Rihanna, Caitlyn Jenner, Donald Trump and... Swift.
July 2016: Kardashian slams Swift
The reality star tells GQ that Swift “totally approved” the “Famous” lyric, alleging that there was even a recorded phone call to prove it -- something Swift’s publicist at the time vehemently denies.
“Kim Kardashian’s claim that Taylor and her team were aware of being recorded is not true,” the publicist said in a statement, “and Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone.”
July 17: Kardashian shares Swift's call
Kim shares the fabled phone call between the two artists, where Swift seems to approve at least part of West’s “Famous” lyric.
“Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that b**ch’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened,” Swift says in an open letter on her Instagram. “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.”
Aug. 25: West kicks of "Saint Pablo" tour
West (pictured here on Oct. 25, 2016 in Inglewood, California) begins touring his album in Indianapolis, Indiana, on an immediately iconic floating platform that hovers above the crowd and shines a light on the audience below.
Fans in attendance seem to marvel at the unique stage picture, and for awhile, at least, things seem to be going well.
Sept. 2016: Feud with Kid Cudi
West responds fiercely to a Twitter rant from Cudi that calls out his frequent collaborator, as well as Drake.
“Kid Cudi, don’t ever mention ‘Ye name,” he says during one performance as the audience cheers. “I birthed you! We all dealing with that emo s**t all the time .... Don’t ever mention ‘Ye name.”
However, just days later, West does a 180, saying onstage, “I just wanted to take this time out to say Kid Cudi is my brother and I hope he’s doing well,” while calling his friend “the most influential artist of the last 10 years.”
It should be noted that shortly after the Twitter feud, Cudi checked himself into rehab after candidly admitting his struggles with depression and suicidal urges.
Oct. 2: Kardashian robbed at gunpoint
West abruptly ends a show mid-song in Queens, New York, shortly before news breaks that masked gunman had tied up his wife at gunpoint at her hotel in Paris, robbing her of over $10 million in jewelry.
What follows is a fundamental shift in how Kim conducts herself, as the reality star cancels her public appearances and steps back from social media to recover from the harrowing incident.
West also reschedules a number of shows to be with his family, though the rapper shortly thereafter resumes his tour, adding over 20 dates in the process.
Oct. 19: West calls out Jay Z
West’s up-and-down relationship with former mentor Jay Z goes back far beyond this album cycle, but tension arises between the two artists again when West goes on a rant at a show in Seattle, Washington.
“There will never be a ‘Watch the Throne 2,’” West proclaims in the NSFW rant, referring to his and Jay Z’s 2011 collaborative album. “That’s the reason I wasn’t on this song, I wasn’t on the song ‘cause of Hov. ‘Cause of some TIDAL/Apple bulls**t. And that s**t be getting me tight every time I perform this motherf***er.”
West then accuses his labelmate of not being there for him after Kim’s robbery.
“Don’t call me, after the robbery, and say ‘How you feelin’?’ You wanna know how I’m feeling? Come by the house,” West can be heard saying in another Twitter video from the concert. “Bring the kids by the house, like we’re brothers.”
Nov. 18: West on Trump
While the rapper’s outlandish rants are generally supported by his fans, West begins earning boos during his San Jose, California, show, when he says that despite his campaign contributions to the contrary, Donald Trump would have earned his vote.
“I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I were to vote, I would have voted on Trump,” he tells the crowd. “That doesn’t mean that you’re a Trump supporter. That just means you OK with a celebrity having their own opinion. Or that someone else is OK to have their own opinion. That might not be your opinion but you can still like that person or still like that person’s music.”
Nov. 20: West ends show after rant
West’s behavior turns from controversial to possibly worrisome, after he abruptly ends his Sacramento show, following a 17-minute rant, both praising Trump and calling out Jay Z and Beyonce, pleading with the former, “Jay Z, I know you got killers, please don’t send them at my head. Just call me. Talk to me like a man.”
West, pictured here at an earlier concert in September, then shares 99 unexplained bizarre fashion photos on his Instagram before canceling his Los Angeles makeup show, and subsequently the remaining dates on his Saint Pablo Tour.
Nov. 22: West hospitalized
West was hospitalized over concerns for “his own health and safety,” though the rapper was “medically stable,” the LAPD tells ET.
After the hospitalization, Kim cancels her first scheduled appearance at the Angel Ball in NYC -- which was to honor her late father, Robert Kardashian -- to return to her husband’s side.
“Kim was terrified,” a source tells ET. “She was so scared when she heard the news and rushed to his side. There was no question about her staying in NYC. She had to be with him last night.”
ET speaks with West’s mother-in-law, Kris Jenner, at the Angel Ball, where she says she thinks West is “exhausted.”
West’s friend, John Legend, also notes that his pal has “been through a lot lately” when ET chats with him while he promotes the Dec. 2 release of his new album, “Darkness and Light.”
Watch the video for more of Legend’s comments on West.
By Alex Ungerman, ETOnline.com