Kanye West appeared to be “canceled” by the end of 2022 after a failed presidential bid, loss of multi-billion dollar sponsorship deals, and public ostracism due to a long spell of bizarre behavior, including various offensive and sometimes antisemitic comments.

Now, though, a slew of new music albums with high-profile collaborators and a series of branded products are bringing the mercurial artist back into the spotlight and, possibly, into the cultural mainstream. Having doubled down on his antisemitism in new music lyrics, the artist is banking on his ability to sell directly to his loyal fanbase, having been cast to the curb by his previous corporate partners, such as Adidas. 

Mr. West, who also goes by the monikers “Ye,” “Yeezy,” and “Yandhi,” is slated to release a new music album, “Vultures,” on Friday. On Friday morning, the star attempted to hold a listening party at Las Vegas featuring album collaborator and contemporary rapper Ty Dolla $ign. TMZ reports that shortly before the event was slated to begin at a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, though, it was shut down by the police on account of the group not having sufficient permitting. The listening party, which charged fans $2,000 per ticket, would have been the second the artist had in the week.

On Wednesday, Mr. West held a similar listening party at Miami. Donning black reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan’s white ones, the star played music from his upcoming album via his personal phone. Local Miami outlet, the New Times, reported the event had about 1,000 attendees, including notable rap artists. 

Fans interviewed by the outlet were unperturbed by the star’s controversial remarks.

One fan in attendance, Cameron Baines, told the Times that Mr. West, “can’t be antisemitic if he’s saying he f-cked a Jewish girl.” 

 In November, Ye was heard rapping one of the then-unreleased songs whose lyrics include, “How am I antisemitic? I just f-cked a Jewish b-tch.” The artist was subsequently condemned by Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, which told TMZ that “At a time of rising antisemitism worldwide, it’s disgusting to see Kanye once again use his platform to spew Jew hatred.” 

Despite the backlash, Ye’s album features a who’s-who of the rap industry, including notable stars Chris Brown, Bad Bunny, Kodak Black, and Playboi Carti. Another song in Ye’s album that featured rap star Nicki Minaj was blocked by Ms. Minaj from being released. This prompted Ye to publicly implore the star on X, formerly Twitter, to allow him to release the fruits of their collaboration. 

In addition to music, Mr. West is releasing new apparel lines. On Thursday night, the 46-year-old announced the release of a new footwear line, starting with a foldable shoe to be known as YZY POD. “YEEZY debuts the foldable future of footwear, YZY POD,” a press release posted by Mr. West on X read. “Our first product since liberation from Adidas goes on presale today, $200 at yeezy.com.” “Accept no imitations,” the star added.

The “YZY POD,” as the product is known, features the star’s distinctive, formless design. A visual of the shoe-like object linked on the star’s website shows it having the ability to fold over itself. Some commentators on X have critiqued the shoe as being more sock-like in appearance. The launch of the shoe coincided with an announcement by Mr. West on Wednesday of the hiring of a new head of design, Gosha Rubchinsky. The 39-year-old Russian fashion designer has previously collaborated with high-profile brands, including Burberry, Dr. Martens, and Levi’s, the arts and culture outlet Complex reported.

Like Mr. West, the fashion designer has courted controversy before. In 2018, Mr. Rubchinskiy was accused of pressuring a 16-year-old Russian boy into sending him explicit photos of himself, GQ documented at the time. Though it is unclear what involvement Mr. Rubchinsky will have in Mr. West’s apparel line, the fashion designer reportedly created the cover art for the “Vultures” album. 

Mr. West’s attempted renaissance also extends to journalism. The star launched a news platform on Wednesday called Yews. The web site, which appears to circulate articles three times a day in a bare-bones layout, covers global events as well as the latest updates on the Grammy-winning musician himself.

The news web site has a particular focus on Israel. Some of the articles featured have accused the Jewish state of having committed “war crimes,” including circulating an unsubstantiated claim that Israel had been “ripping women and children from schools and murdering them execution-style.” The site also used a graphic of the Devil as the hero image for the article on the Jewish state.