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Rapper and fashion mogul Kanye West stirred controversy once again after revealing disturbing details about his childhood in a new song titled “Cousins.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the 47-year-old artist opened up about a traumatic and inappropriate relationship with his male cousin during their early years.
Kanye West’s Disturbing Childhood Revelation
In his social media post, West disclosed that the track “Cousins” is about a relative who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of a pregnant woman.
West connected the song’s backstory to an incident from their youth, stating, “This song is about my cousin, who’s now in prison for life. A few years before that, I told him we shouldn’t ‘look at dirty magazines together’ anymore.”
West alleged that as children, they acted out scenes from adult magazines they found in the home of his late mother, Donda West, whom he has recently described as a lesbian.
Graphic Lyrics and Emotional Confession
The Grammy-winning artist shared explicit lyrics from the unreleased song , “Hanging with my cousin reading dirty magazines / We seen some men kiss, and didn’t know what it means / Then we start reenacting everything that we had seen / That’s when I gave my cousin head.”
West repeated the line several times in the track and concluded his post with a blunt statement:
“My name is Ye, and I performed oral sex on my cousin until I was 14. Tweet sent.”
Kanye West Reflects on Guilt and Public Confession
West expressed personal guilt over the situation, suggesting that introducing his cousin to adult content may have influenced their actions. He wrote, “Maybe in my self-centered state, I thought it was my fault for showing him those magazines when he was six.”
He also questioned societal expectations of secrecy around trauma, adding, “People tell me to take it to the grave, but I believe the truth will set me free. I’m not attracted to men.”
The video preview for “Cousins” includes intense and provocative imagery—from family footage and scenes of gun violence to semi-nude visuals, a burning cross, and a sign with an anti-LGBTQ slur. The visuals appear to reflect West’s inner turmoil and societal commentary.
Past References to the Cousin
This is not the first time West has publicly referenced the cousin in question. In 2018, during a conversation with Jimmy Kimmel while endorsing Donald Trump, he stated, “My cousin is locked up for murder. I love him. He did something terrible, but I still love him.”
Kim Kardashian, West’s former wife and co-parent to their four children, also mentioned the cousin during a prison reform discussion in 2020. She revealed that the individual received a double life sentence for a crime committed at the age of 17.
