If there is one thing Kanye West is certain of these days, it’s that artists should own their music — even his frenemy Taylor Swift. 

The “Heartless” rapper has recently gone on several Twitter rants in which he criticized the music industry and the way that contracts are done with artists. More specifically, he took issue with the fact that most musicians don’t own their own work.

It was just last year that Swift, unsuccessfully, tried to buy back her masters when they were sold in the deal that saw Scooter Braun‘s company purchase her former label, Big Machine Records. However, West feels strongly that he can help with that. 

In a tweet on September 18, the Yeezy designer said that he would “personally see to it” that Swift got her masters back, adding that Braun is a “close family friend.” And, he’s sticking to that statement. 

In an interview with Billboard published on Wednesday, West doubled down on his statement and explained why he wanted to help the “cardigan” singer, telling the outlet, “All artists need to be free and own their rights. Taylor Swift deserves that, just like everyone else.” 

“Currently, artists take advances to make records and yet when they repay those advances the record company still owns the records,” he explained. “Imagine a bank lending you money to buy a house and then when you’ve repaid that mortgage, them telling you they still own it.”

Ultimately, West says that he is fighting on behalf of all artists and won’t consider his mission accomplished until “every artist owns their masters.”

“I’m committed to doing whatever is necessary so artists own their own copyrights,” he said. “I’ve put together a group of advisors to get me the information I need to succeed on behalf of all artists.”

By Danielle Long
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