Kanye West and McDonald's is finally happening. After breaking his months-long Instagram silence to announce his collab, the Balenciaga fanboy and famous fast-foodie is drip-feeding details of the long-awaited link-up.
After surviving a temporary Instagram ban, Kanye kept quiet on the platform for a spell, spontaneously returning to post an image of a geometric McDonald’s container with the text “Next week it’s the fries" (a reference to his song "Gold Digger").
“Ye teams up with legendary MUJI industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to reimagine McDonald’s packaging," reads Kanye's caption, referring to himself in the third person.
Fukasawa, though best known for his work with minimalist Japanese retailer MUJI, has been heralded as an influential product designer, with a stacked list of clients that includes Herman Miller, Issey Miyake, Alessi, and HAY.
Amassing over fifty prestigious accolades in his career to date – including an American IDEA Gold Award, the German iF Gold Award, and the British D&AD Gold Award – Fukusawa is going full-on commercial by providing West and McDonald's with some much-needed design expertise.
While Fukasawa's link-up with McDonald's may come as a surprise, West’s love for the fast food chain is no secret.
After countless tweets over the past few years celebrating the golden arches (highlights include "McDonald's is my favorite restaurant" and "McDonald's is my favorite brand"), Ye even penned a heart-felt poem which featured the line "Always knew them French fries was evil man / Smelling all good and shit."
What's more, a 2021 trip to Sweden hinted at the contents of Ye's boxy, er, box. According to newspaper Aftonbladet, West allegedly opts for the unique ensemble of a large caramel Frappé, one Chicken Tasty, one large chocolate milkshake, one three-pack of hot wings, six barbecue dipping sauces (!!!) and the aforementioned medium fries.
Shortly after, Ye appeared in a memorable Super Bowl ad for McDonald's where he spent most of the commercial's runtime trying to order some food.
Neither McDonald’s nor Fukasawa have commented on their collaboration with Kanye, though it wouldn't be the first time that Yeezy shock-dropped a new venture, akin to how his latest YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga drop was suddenly announced to release in late May.
