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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.
What Is Kanye West’s Song “Cousins” About?
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.
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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.
Kanye West’s “Cousins” Lyrics
The lyrics of “Cousins” are explicit and autobiographical, detailing the events and emotions surrounding the incident. Some of the most talked-about lyrics include:
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“Hanging with my cousin reading dirty magazines”
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“We seen some n***** kiss and we ain’t know what that s*** mean”
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“Then we start reenacting everything that we had seen”
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“That’s when I gave my cousin head”
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.”
He added, “My name is Ye and I sucked my cousins d**k till I was 14,” and concluded his message by adding, “Tweet sent.”
Who Is Kanye West Referring to in His Song “Cousins”?
The identity of the cousin mentioned in “Cousins” has not been publicly disclosed. West has referred to this cousin as someone who is currently incarcerated for life due to a murder conviction. “This song is called COUSINS about my cousin that’s locked in jail for life for killing a pregnant lady a few years after I told him we wouldn’t ‘look at dirty magazines together’ anymore,” Ye wrote on X.
In a 2018 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, while endorsing Donald Trump, West also said, “My cousin is locked up for murder, and I love him. He did a bad thing, but I still love him.”
As of now, no credible outlets have confirmed the cousin’s name or shared further details.