Kanye West, now known as Ye, is making headlines once again—this time with his new track “Cousins.”
The song delves into a traumatic experience from his childhood, where he says an early exposure to explicit material led to a sexual encounter with a male cousin. Ye also claims that the same cousin is now serving a life sentence for murder. The release of the song has sparked intense reactions online, touching on heavy themes like trauma, guilt, and the lasting effects of early experiences.
Find out more about the song and what we know about the cousin Ye sings about below.
The Grammy winner’s song “Cousins,” released on April 21, 2025, delves into deeply personal and controversial experiences from his youth. In the track, West recounts a sexual encounter with a male cousin during their childhood, an experience he attributes to early exposure to explicit material.
In the music video, West blends childhood home videos with jarring scenes of gun violence, provocative imagery, a slur-filled sign, and a burning cross.
The lyrics of “Cousins” are explicit and autobiographical, detailing the events and emotions surrounding the incident. Some of the most talked-about lyrics include:
In a post on X, Ye echoed the song’s themes, saying he found the magazines in his late mother Donda’s closet and wrote, “Perhaps in my self-centered mess I felt it was my fault that I showed him those dirty magazines when he was 6 and then we acted out what we saw.”
