This article was published on October 20, 2021 and updated on May 23, 2022
What was once a fleeting fantasy is now reality: Kanye West is collaborating with McDonald's.
The rapper appeared to confirm the fast food team-up — a possibility that Highsnobiety waxed poetic on back in 2021 — on Instagram Stories, where he posted a photo of a suspiciously blocky McDonald's sandwich.
The caption? "Next week it's the fries," a reference to his song "Gold Digger."
Following up on feed, Mr. DONDA himself clarified in a press release: "Ye teams up with legendary Muji industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to reimagine McDonald’s packaging." Despite his bold use of the third person, Neither McDonald's nor Fukasawa have commented on the three-way collab.
Our hankering for a Yeezus meal goes way back to October 2021, when Ye's wild McDonald's order made headlines.
During a visit to Sweden, the king of controversy stopped by the fast food joint for a taste of the best cuisine Europe has to offer. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, he allegedly ordered one large caramel Frappé, one Chicken Tasty (a sandwich exclusive to Europe), one medium fries, one large chocolate milkshake, one three-pack of hot wings, and six barbecue dipping sauces.
(In case you didn't clock that, Ye requires two sauce packets per chicken wing.)
Doubling down on his love for McDonald's, he later appeared in a Super Bowl ad for the fast food giant, a 30-second spot that features the rapper pulling up to a drive-through in one of his big, hulking tanks.
Judging from his Instagram teasers, Kanye's meal will be as understated and overhyped as his YEEZY x GAP hoodies. Since nothing is off the table when it comes to the divisive artist, I'd like to manifest the following: McDonald's employees will serve the collab in uniforms designed by Balenciaga's Demna Gvasalia, a close co-conspirator of Ye's and no stranger to fast food-inspired fashion.
Kanye is a loud and proud McDonald's fan, rendering the partnership less cash grab-y and more legitimate. In 2018, he tweeted, "McDonald's is my favorite restaurant" and in 2016 he shared, "McDonalds is my favorite brand" — unsurprising, considering his love of GAP, another American staple.
He even wrote a poem about McDonald's that includes the incredibly spot-on line, "Always knew them French fries was evil man / Smelling all good and shit."
Ye x McDonald's follows in the footsteps of Megan Thee Stallion's Popeyes team-up, just one in a seemingly never-ending sequence of celebrity fast food collabs. As passé as rapper-backed Big Macs have become, a limited-edition Kanye West meal would be an undeniable hit. In fact, it might just make fast food hype fun again.
