Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
AP Photo/Michael Wyke, File
Kanye West last month filed trademark applications under the names “Yecosystem” and “Yeezyverse.”
The trademarks include protections for branded food and beverages, and stores bearing the name.
Sources told Rolling Stone Ye plans to create his own “universe” called the Yecosystem.
Kanye West last month filed a batch of trademark applications under the names “Yecosystem” and “Yeezyverse,” which sources told Rolling Stone are a step toward Ye’s vision of his own self-contained “universe.”
The applications, filed on September 23 by West’s company, Mascotte Holdings, include 13 different sets of protections for items and services including branded food and beverages, retail stores, and an online presence bearing Ye’s name.
The “Yecosystem” or “Yeezyverse” (also spelled “Yzyverse” or “Yxyverse” in separate applications) is the rapper’s vision for a “self-sustained enterprise,” which would ultimately include branded homes in addition to stores and food items, two sources familiar with the plan told Rolling Stone.
While it is unclear where the “Yecosystem” might be built, the first community formed around the fledgling West brand is in development, a source told Rolling Stone, with an initial campus set to open as early as next month. The “self-sustained enterprise” would contain enough branded businesses — from housing to food and clothing sales to design services and nutritional consultation, according to the applications — to pay its own expenses, acting as a small city run entirely by West’s brands.
West has already formed his own PreK through 12th grade school, with intentions to expand to a university, in addition to his Yeezy clothing line and creative content company.
“He’s trying to do shit that people couldn’t even conceive of and he’s trying to make it happen,” Rolling Stone reported the sources said. “He comes from a good place. It’s definitely his goal that everything that people touch that’s his is a good thing and has a good impact on the world.”
In response to recent controversial comments made by the musician and fashion designer, brands including Adidas and Balenciaga have severed ties with West. The “Yecosystem,” which Ye teased in a CNBC interview last month, would allow West more complete creative and legal control over related business dealings.
Representatives for West did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.