Kanye West Says He Was ‘2 Months From Going Bankrupt’ Before Latest Comeback

Kanye West is riding high with his and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 album finally arriving around the globe. But he shares that not long ago, things weren’t that great. TMZ caught up with Ye upon his return from Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII inside LAX on Monday (Feb. 12), when he told the outlet that he was just a couple of months from bankruptcy last year before his latest comeback.

“I’ma just be honest with y’all: I was two months from going bankrupt and I put everything I had into it and we moved to Italy,” he revealed. “We moved to the factories and we survived. We survived through the cancellation. We back No. 1.”

Vultures 1 is Kanye’s first project to arrive independently since Def Jam/Universal were among the myriad brands such as Adidas to split from the Chicago native following his string of controversies and antisemitic remarks in late 2022. After Ye was dropped by Adidas, Forbes shared that the rapper had dropped off its list of billionaires.

“It wasn’t about the controversy, it was about the ability to say how you felt out loud,” West explained. “If I didn’t have the various skill sets of music, clothing and the fan base, they would’ve been able to destroy me. But because we had all those skill sets, somehow, I’m here inside this universe able to fight. I love all the people that supported.”

He continued: “So many people would lose their jobs, lose their careers for the steps we took. We went down for like a year and a half.”

“Carnival” appears to be the Vultures track receiving the most fan support, as the tune — which Billboard ranked No. 1 in the album’s songs ranking list — featuring Rich The Kid and Playboi Carti is atop the Spotify Global chart. It remains to be seen if West will earn his 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 next week.

Watch the full interview with West below.