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The Daily Dish Vanderpump Rules

James Kennedy Declares "RIP White Kanye" Amid Ongoing Kanye West Controversy

The Vanderpump Rules DJ has since changed his stance on his longtime nickname in homage to the rapper.

By Jocelyn Vena
Is James Kennedy ‘The White Kanye’?

If you've somehow been living under a rock as of late and missed all of this, Kanye West has been stirring up no shortage of controversy in the wake of comments and tweets he's made about a number of subjects, including when he stopped by TMZ headquarters and said, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... for 400 years?! That sounds like a choice." Since then, he's mostly faced backlash from a number of fellow A-listers.

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That being said, Kanye also seems to have affected longtime fan James Kennedy. The Vanderpump Rules DJ has long referred to himself as the "White Kanye," a nickname even Kim approved of at one point. But he headed to Twitter this week to declare "RIP WHITE KANYE."

James has never been shy in the past about expressing his dream of wanting to work with the embattled rapper, and has noted that Yeezy is famous for courting controversy, but still touted his

musical abilities.

James previously explained to The Daily Dish how he came up with that nickname in the first place. "I've been a Kanye West fan since the day I first heard his music, I've understood his music and more so have appreciated his production as a music producer from the samples he uses to the bass sounds for melody," he explained to The Daily Dish via email in 2016. "Some people get angry at the fact that I said I'm the 'white Kanye West'; however, I stand my ground, and here's why. Kanye, as a person, never doubted himself. If you go to some of his earliest interviews, he is the same Kanye that we see today. Before he had anything, he was the same Kanye we see today. I think I'm like him in the sense that I explore sound. I want to create something nobody has ever heard or seen before and I have nothing stopping me, the only thing that could possibly stop me is myself." 

But James also admitted that he doesn't take the name very seriously, either. "It's all a bit of a joke," he said. "I mean, I don't literally think that, but come on, you got to admit it's pretty funny."

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