A few days after announcing his next two albums, Kanye West parts ways with his manager of two years, Scooter Braun.
The music executive has been co-managing the 40-year-old artist since March 2016.
Major Career Move
The sudden split stems from West's recent decision to break away from the traditional music business, sources say. The rapper/designer is also planning to opt out of maintaining a relationship with a music manager or lawyer.
West wanted to take his whole operation in-house and reportedly invited Braun and his team to work full-time for him. The talent manager, who also manages other celebrities including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, declined.
Another source, however, confirms that the "Famous" rapper will remain signed to Def Jam and Sony/ATV.
West's split with Braun is the second major shift for the rapper this year. He also had to let go Izvor "Izzy" Zivkovic in March after working together for a number of years. The cause of the split remains unclear.
Billboard, however, revealed that West will continue to have a close business relationship with Braun. The SB Projects will continue to make deals with West's lifestyle brand Yeezy.
The father of three is not the first star to take a similar approach to their music and career. Other major names such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars have pivoted to an employee-management move in the past few years.
Hyper-Focused And Psyched
West, who has stirred chaos when he returned to Twitter last week, has also reportedly been stirring trouble around him.
The rapper, according to a source, has cut off contact with some members of his inner circle and has been having arguments with friends and his mother-in-law Kris Jenner.
"He's all over the place. Excited. Loud. He's sleeping very little, texting at all hours of the day or night. Coming up with ideas, sending them to people and instructing everyone to drop everything and collaborate," shared a source. " He truly feels like it's the most exciting stuff in the world."
West announced his two new albums, one of which was a collaboration with Kid Cudi, on Twitter last week. He also revealed the release dates of Pusha T's and Teyana Taylor's new records.
In addition, the rapper revealed in a previous interview this month that he is also writing a philosophy book that will discuss people's obsession with photographs. The book will be called Break the Simulation.
West's still-untitled seven-track album will be released on June 1.
