Kanye West threatens Gap and Adidas deals in exchange for board seats

Kanye West has threatened to apply the brakes to his long-awaited Gap clothing line. 

The 43-year-old musician took to Twitter on Wednesday night to deliver an ultimatum to the retailer, with whom he was set to release a 2021 clothing range.

‘I’M NOT RELEASING NOTHING ON GAP TILL I’M ON THE BOARD,’ he tweeted, in reference to his Yeezy Gap clothing line. 

Uh-oh: Kanye West has threatened to apply the brakes to his long-awaited Gap clothing line. He’s seen here in 2019

He also lashed out at his collaborator Adidas during the rant, promising to switch allegiance to the footwear company’s rival Nike if his demands weren’t met.

‘I’M WEARING JORDANS TILL I’M ON THE BOARD OF ADIDAS,’ the Black Skinhead hitmaker tweeted, along with a skiing emoji.  

On Thursday West continued the rant, tweeting ‘My first pillar when I’m on the board of adidas will be an adidas Nike collaboration to support community growth’. 

The share price for both Gap and Adidas declined following the tweets. 

Rant: 'I’M WEARING JORDANS TILL I’M ON THE BOARD OF ADIDAS,' the Black Skinhead hitmaker tweeted, along with a skiing emoji, among other tweets

Rant: ‘I’M WEARING JORDANS TILL I’M ON THE BOARD OF ADIDAS,’ the Black Skinhead hitmaker tweeted, along with a skiing emoji, among other tweets

Kanye signed a ten year deal with Gap back in June, according to the New York Times. 

At the time, the retailer said the Gold Digger singer would design a range of ‘modern, elevated basics for men, women and kids at accessible price points.’

According to Forbes in July, Kanye’s ‘total stake [in Gap] should be worth more than $100 million at the current share price’. 

As far back as 2015, West -who had once worked for the company in his teen years- declared to The Cut that he wanted ‘to be the Steve Jobs of the Gap,’ a reference to Apple’s late visionary co-founder. 

Not the first time: The singer and aspiring politician had previously complained but his lack of board seats. Seen here in a September 10 tweet

Not the first time: The singer and aspiring politician had previously complained but his lack of board seats. Seen here in a September 10 tweet

New kicks: The rapper was set to release the line of apparel for men, women and kids next year. Seen here in November last year

New kicks: The rapper was set to release the line of apparel for men, women and kids next year. Seen here in November last year

The threats come just days after Kanye took his battle with the music industry off of Twitter and on Billboard.

‘You have to adapt,’ the Power artist told Billboard on Tuesday. ‘You can’t have old rules for new games. No other business in the world would suggest you don’t adapt to a completely new supply chain and income sources.’

The Jesus Is Born artist told the outlet that ‘the balance of power is too off’ in the business and that ‘the gap between major label profit and artist profit too wide.’

He vowed, ‘I will work to re-think the design of the entire way we move in this space.’

The Can’t Tell Me Nothing artist said that his ultimate goal of raising the issue via Twitter and in media is for every artist to own their master recordings.

Happier times: Kanye had previously tweeted enthusiastically about the collaboration

Happier times: Kanye had previously tweeted enthusiastically about the collaboration

Logo: On Thursday West continued the rant, tweeting 'My first pillar when I’m on the board of adidas will be an adidas Nike collaboration to support community growth'. A previous tweet about his Gap line seen here

Logo: On Thursday West continued the rant, tweeting ‘My first pillar when I’m on the board of adidas will be an adidas Nike collaboration to support community growth’. A previous tweet about his Gap line seen here

‘I’m committed to doing whatever is necessary so artists own their own copyrights,’ the Grammy-winner said. ‘The response is awesome because everyone knows this is a broken system that needs to be fixed.’

He used an analogy about purchasing a house in describing the inequities of the music business and its infrastructure.

‘Currently, artists take advances to make records and yet when they repay those advances the record company still owns the records,’ he said. ‘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.’

Then and now: The share price for both Gap and Adidas declined following the tweets, after West previously touted Gap's growth back in June [seen above]

Then and now: The share price for both Gap and Adidas declined following the tweets, after West previously touted Gap’s growth back in June [seen above]

His product: Here two models can be seen wearing the rapper's Yeezy Foam RNNR shoes

His product: Here two models can be seen wearing the rapper’s Yeezy Foam RNNR shoes

He said his goal is to ‘Free All Artists by any means necessary.

‘I will work to rip apart the structure we are attached to that pays people for music,’ he told the outlet. ‘We cannot have designed streaming, but not designed a new method for payment and ownership around it where we all benefit. Predominantly the EQUITY I.E THE ARTIST!!

‘The balance of power is too off, the gap between major label profit and artist profit too wide; and I will work to re-think the design of the entire way we move in this space.

West cited the change in technology, saying that ‘streaming re-invented the wheel and we all stuck on the sidewalk wondering if we have cab fare.

He added: ‘We have to get out the Matrix. It will happen: Remember, Ye told you so!!’

The music superstar noted that his ‘brand and influence goes way beyond just music and that of course is meaningful to [companies including] Vivendi, as it is to Adidas and many other conglomerates.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk