Top 50 Kanye West tweets since he rejoined Twitter

Tweet: Some people have to work within the existing consciousness while some people can shift the consciousness
Total engagement: 238,179 (177,434 favorites / 60,745 retweets)
Date: April 15, 2018 at 8:11 PM

Nearly a year after he shocked the Twitterverse by deleting his account in May 2017, Kanye reemerged. He scrapped his entire previous Twitter timeline, yelled at Nike for allegedly ripping off his sneakers, deleted that tweet, took a mulligan and tried again. His next tweet was the first in series that featured Kanye waxing philosophical about capitalism and consciousness.

Tweet: never a master. Always a student.
Total engagement: 241,186 (187,670 favorites / 53,516 retweets)
Date: April 24, 2018 at 12:15 PM

Kanye gave his followers a window into his most intimate of spaces when he tweeted a photo of his daughter, North, playing with some action figure dolls of Michael Jackson and none other than Kanye himself. He tweeted that they then enjoyed a father-daughter dance to Michael's music, a moment that apparently inspired Kanye to introduce his inner Mr. Miyagi to Twitter.

Tweet: Don't follow crowds. Follow the innate feelings inside of you. Do what you feel not what you think. Thoughts have been placed in our heads to make everyone assimilate. Follow what you feel.
Total engagement: 242,205 (176,434 favorites / 65,771 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 11:14 AM

In April, Kanye unleashed a tweetstorm of inspirational/motivational isms that ranged from fortune cookie boilerplate to actionable and useful (don't reach for your phone as soon as you wake up in the morning). One of the tweets informed his followers that they were actually not tweets at all, but little passages from a philosophy book that he was writing online in real time.

Tweet: I want to see a tour with Nikki Minaj and Cardi B
Total engagement: 245,151 (203,966 favorites / 41,185 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 4:54 PM

As a growing storm brewed between hip-hop stars Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, Kanye couldn't help but interject in their public feud. In calling for unity between the warring parties, Kanye either subliminally showed his secret support for Cardi B by intentionally misspelling Minaj's name—or autocorrect tripped him up. 

Tweet: Pull up in this b**** like pic.twitter.com/0dgj9f5arg
Total engagement: 247,690 (201,857 favorites / 45,833 retweets)
Date: April 19, 2018 at 5:51 PM

Shortly after his triumphant return to Twitter, Kanye released a picture of an impressive spread of Yeezy Boost 350 v2 sneakers in a rainbow of colors ranging from Easter basket pastels to conservative deep blues and browns. There was even a sample of an unreleased shoe with a brand new feature that rattled the footwear world — see-through mesh.

Tweet: today will be the greatest day so far. Life keeps getting better and better.
Total engagement: 250,788 (187,819 favorites / 62,969 retweets)
Date: April 19, 2018 at 10:36 AM

Just days after re-emerging from his self-imposed Twitter exile, Kanye had already established his new identity as a motivational life coach. As part of the tweet-by-tweet philosophy book he announced he was writing online, Kanye volunteered some optimism about the 24 hours—and lifetime—ahead of him.

Tweet: I've got a new challenge for everyone today. Pick somebody that you had an argument with that you think you hate maybe even someone you haven't spoken to in years and contact that person and tell them I love you.
Total engagement: 251,839 (198,503 favorites / 53,336 retweets)
Date: April 28, 2018 at 1:15 PM

Through his newly philosophical online persona, Kanye challenged his legions of followers to take the high road and reach out to an old enemy to bury the hatchet. Shortly after, the Independent's indy100 reported on a series of people who posted screenshots of conversations proving that they had accepted Kanye's karmic challenge—with comically disastrous results.

Tweet: question everything
Total engagement: 252,934 (184,132 favorites / 68,802 retweets)
Date: April 22, 2018 at 10:03 AM

The born-again Twitter Kanye rarely misses a chance to tell his followers to break the chains of their own minds. In this case, he summoned his inner "X-Files." As part of a in-depth analysis of Kanye's philosophical authenticity, the New Yorker found this tidbit to be more Jeffrey Lebowski than Aristotle. 

Tweet: Rocky we gotta release our songs ASAP
Total engagement: 259,828 (206,250 favorites / 53,578 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 12:05 PM

Under the guise of directly addressing a few other fellow artists, Kanye took to Twitter to let the world know that it could expect some new music. Among those with whom he revealed that future collaboration was imminent were Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Scott and, in this case, ASAP Rocky.

Tweet: free thinking is a super power
Total engagement: 265,301 (209,576 favorites / 55,725 retweets)
Date: May 8, 2018 at 1:02 PM

In early May, Kanye ignited controversy when he questioned whether slavery had been a "choice" for some slaves, who he believed were actually "mentally imprisoned." Kanye was widely panned for his choice of language and later responded with this attempt to contextualize his statement.

Tweet: style is genderless
Total engagement: 265,904 (204,018 favorites / 61,886 retweets)
Date: April 20, 2018 at 4:01 PM

Since Kanye is a fashion aficionado as much as he is a rap star, his tweets have the power to set clothing trends. In this case, the tweet is the fashion trend. For $20 on Etsy, you can score a T-shirt emblazoned with a screenshot of Kanye's April 20 tweet about his gender-neutral perception of true style. The shirt is, of course, unisex.

Tweet: I no longer have a manager. I can't be managed
Total engagement: 269,390 (220,610 favorites / 48,780 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 10:01 AM

"Unmanageable" is generally a term that agents and managers use to describe clients that they reluctantly had to drop. Kanye, however, basked in the title after applying it to himself while firing off a string of tweets letting the world know that the firing of his longtime manager had positioned his company to become a decacorn. Don't worry, everyone else had to Google "decacorn," too.

Tweet: I’m nice at ping pong
Total engagement: 270,092 (204,561 favorites / 65,531 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 1:39 PM

An entire Reddit subthread is dedicated solely to internet sleuths attempting to decipher the meaning behind Kanye's cryptic ping-pong tweet. Conflict theories abound, but investigators were quickly thrown off the scent. That's because almost exactly two hours after he baffled the masses with his table-tennis themed message, he triggered an online earthquake when he tweeted a picture of himself wearing a MAGA hat.

Tweet: I really love my Tesla. I'm in the future. Thank you Elon.
Total engagement: 270,702 (242,335 favorites / 28,367 retweets)
Date: April 22, 2018 at 10:13 PM

After taking his new Tesla for a spin, Kanye wrote a tweet praising the brainchild automobile of Tesla CEO and mad (in a good way) scientist Elon Musk. The two unlikely pals had fostered a bromance starting in 2015, when Musk—who also heads SpaceX and Neuralink—praised Yeezy in an article he penned for Time.

Tweet: try telling people you love them it actually feels weird at first. We're really good at hating each other. We have to get good at loving each other.
Total engagement: 270,979 (210,695 favorites / 60,284 retweets)
Date: April 26, 2018 at 1:28 PM

When Kanye extended his run as inspirational motivator, he found at least one convert close to home. After reading Kanye's tweet about the challenges of professing deep, positive feelings for each other, his brother-in-law, Rob Kardashian, promptly replied that he, in fact, loves Kanye.

Tweet: Look at your phone as tool not an obligation. Would you walk around with a hammer in your pocket? You would pick up a hammer when you needed it you would never be addicted or obligated to it. Use your phone like a hammer only pick it up when you need it.
Total engagement: 276,778 (220,252 favorites / 56,526 retweets)
Date: May 21, 2018 at 3:07 PM

Kanye worries that we all spend far to much time with our snouts buried in our phones, which we likely do. This tweet was just one in a series in which Kanye cautioned his followers about the dangers of mobile device addiction, which those followers then read on their mobile devices.

Tweet: my MAGA hat is signed ?????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/DrDHJybS8V
Total engagement: 277,669 (217,577 favorites / 60,092 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 3:38 PM

No one should ever be surprised to hear Kanye brag. But on April 25, Kanye shocked his followers by boasting about something the hip-hop world, and apparently the world at large, never expected to see him show off — a MAGA hat signed by President Trump. Just hours earlier he lit the match by expressing love and support for Trump, while tempering his comments to say he doesn't agree with all of Trump's actions. Lots of flame emojis rammed home his point.

Tweet: I don't believe in the concept of an enemy. We have been conditioned to always be in competition. Stop looking for something to beat and just be. You don't have to do all the work. Once you start moving in love the universe will assist you.
Total engagement: 280,725 (209,160 favorites / 71,565 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 11:16 AM
 

The BBC recently enrolled an actual philosopher to analyze the tweets that Kanye claimed were entries in a real-time philosophy book he was writing online. A tweet about Kanye's concept of not believing in enemies apparently draws striking parallels to the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato and his famous text "The Symposium."

Tweet: You have to protect your ability to create at all cost
Total engagement: 287,366 (212,369 favorites / 74,997 retweets)
Date: April 17, 2018 at 1:55 PM

Always one to help out fellow creators and artists in the form of self-aggrandizing tweets, Kanye dished out some advice on the necessity of maintaining artistic integrity. Fear, manipulation and a constricted thought process, the "Famous" rapper advised, are all enemies of creativity.

Tweet: Donald Glover is a free thinker
Total engagement: 292,829 (242,555 favorites / 50,274 retweets)
Date: April 23, 2018 at 12:55 PM

When "Saturday Night Live" spoofed a slew of headline-grabbing Kanye-isms, Yeezy reacted by showing he has a sense of humor. His free-thinking-themed tweets were the subject of a Kanye-infused sketch starring Donald Glover that was based on the horror movie "The Quiet Place."

Tweet: We live in a time where people don’t respect people for being themselves
Total engagement: 297,380 (214,540 favorites / 82,840 retweets)
Date: April 22, 2018 at 2:45 PM

Kanye's new Twitter persona seems to worry constantly about free thinking, mental constriction and the risk of his followers falling in line behind constructs designed by other people. His brain droppings inspired a mural in Austria.

Tweet: self victimization is a disease
Total engagement: 311,374 (230,172 favorites / 81,202 retweets)
Date: April 22, 2018 at 2:53 PM

Over the course of a few days, Kanye rolled out a loosely connected a series of tweets that inflamed many on the political left and provided some on the right with an unlikely hero. A maelstrom erupted when Kanye voiced love and support for President Trump while questioning whether slaves subconsciously choose bondage over freedom. As controversy swirled, Yeezy defaulted to a common theme: self-empowerment in the face of turmoil.
 

Tweet: distraction is the enemy of vision
Total engagement: 314,031 (213,764 favorites / 100,267 retweets)
Date: April 17, 2018 at 2:00 PM

Kanye gifted fellow artists with a barrage of tweets that addressed the concept of creativity. He reminded up-and-comers that any contractual obligations that stifle your inner "you" are distractions that must be jettisoned for the sake of art.

Tweet: often people working with the existing consciousness are jealous of those who are more in touch and they become hard-core capitalist in hopes of creating the illusion that the value of money is worth more than the value of time and friends
Total engagement: 325,635 (247,363 favorites / 78,272 retweets)
Date: April 15, 2018 at 8:11 PM

Kanye took to Twitter after reflecting on a sentimental moment he shared with Lamar Odom when the retired NBA star was recovering from a near-fatal drug overdose. The subject matter swerved into familiar territory for the Grammy winner—consciousness and capitalism.

Tweet: You have the best ideas. Other people's opinions are usually more distractive than informative. Follow your own vision. base your actions on love. Do things you love and if you don't absolutely love something stop doing it as soon as you can.
Total engagement: 326,449 (238,662 favorites / 87,787 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 11:03 AM

Rounding out the bottom 25 was yet another tiny chapter of Kanye's freeflow online philosophy book. This time, he strung together several bumper sticker-esque, easier-said-than-done standards that he presumably hopes his fans will follow on their own Yeezy-paved journeys to stardom.

Tweet: take a walk outside. Fresh air is healing
Total engagement: 327,025 (258,241 favorites / 68,784 retweets)
Date: May 5, 2018 at 12:24 PM

Almost exactly one month before Kanye informed the world that "fresh air is healing," Cabrini University released a report titled "The Healing Powers of Fresh Air," which used science to support that statement. Yeezy has insisted that he only speaks the truth, and there is now empirical evidence to support that claim in regards to at least one tweet.

Tweet: you can say anything as long as you put the right emoji next to it.
Total engagement: 333,706 (258,410 favorites / 75,296 retweets)
Date: April 24, 2018 at 1:20 AM

A recurring theme in the world of Kanye West's social media persona is his wife, Kim Kardashian West, who valiantly rushes to Twitter to defend her husband from his detractors or explain what he was really trying to say in the cases where the masses misinterpret his genius. She might do better simply by reminding Kanye of his own advice about the power of well-placed emojis in tweets.

Tweet: get past the past
Total engagement: 345,278 (239,991 favorites / 105,287 retweets)
Date: April 21, 2018 at 12:22 PM

In his play "The Tempest," William Shakespeare wrote, "What is past is prologue." When Shakespeare articulated the idea that yesterday creates the context for today, he couldn't have known that a different kind of wordsmith would revisit the concept on Twitter a little more than 400 years later.

Tweet: everything you do in life stems from either fear or love
Total engagement: 345,424 (243,308 favorites / 102,116 retweets)
Date: April 17, 2018 at 2:53 PM

On April 17, Kanye authored a tweet that seemed to be just another example of over-simplified, cookie-cutter wisdom. Some, however, wondered if it might have been an homage to the 2001 science-fiction film "Donnie Darko." Kanye's tweet closely parroted a portion of the script that examined love and fear as the most powerful positive and negative energies in the Universe.

Tweet: all you have to be is yourself
Total engagement: 349,561 (240,851 favorites / 108,710 retweets)
Date: April 20, 2018 at 2:34 PM

Here, too, Kanye dipped back into the well of self-love. In a statement on the value of authenticity and the futility of being disingenuous, the rapper reminded his followers to become the only things they could ever possibly be in the first place—themselves.

Tweet: June 1st
Total engagement: 363,747 (255,884 favorites / 107,863 retweets)
Date: April 19, 2018 at 3:26 PM

Kanye took a pause from his new role of online motivational guru to promote his upcoming summer releases. He announced on Twitter that his new album contained seven songs and then, just seven minutes later, tweeted that the album involved Cudi and would drop on June 8. In between those two tweets, however, he tweeted "June 1." That led some to believe that there was a second album coming out in early June. It could also mean that Kanye simply misfired the release date of the album and never corrected himself or, since he's Kanye, he could just be trolling everyone.

Tweet: just stop lying about s***. Just stop lying.
Total engagement: 369,307 (243,768 favorites / 125,539 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 11:17 AM

It is unclear who Kanye commanded to discontinue what apparently was an irritating pattern of falsehoods. It could have been another mini-chapter in his "book," it could have been a rival who was misrepresenting the truth, it might have been society as a whole or someone altogether different—or he might have just been venting.

Tweet: my album is 7 songs
Total engagement: 381,164 (287,555 favorites / 93,609 retweets)
Date: April 19, 2018 at 3:25 PM

When Kanye announced on Twitter that his upcoming album would come out on June 8—or maybe June 1—he referred to it as "my album." Less than 10 minutes later, however, he corrected himself to include Cudi.

Tweet: Trust your feelings. Stop thinking so much
Total engagement: 382,114 (274,295 favorites / 107,819 retweets)
Date: April 28, 2018 at 4:11 PM

In 2008, Psychology Today reported that the old axiom "trust your feelings" is actually likely to be bad advice. Calculations made by the analytical part of the brain, the report explained, are actually far more reliable than even very intense "gut" feelings. A decade later, Kanye emerged to indirectly inform the doctors and researchers who study the issue that they needed to brush up on their science.

Tweet: Sometimes you have to get rid of everything
Total engagement: 385,436 (262,890 favorites / 122,546 retweets)
Date: April 17, 2018 at 2:01 PM

Likely in reference to artistic distractions, Kanye professed the benefits of starting fresh with a blank slate. His wife, Kim Kardashian, jokingly asked him to qualify his statement to exclude her from the pile of "everything" he was hoping to ditch. Fellow Twitter superstar—and real-life superstar—Chrissy Teigan then got in on the action by offering Kim an air mattress to crash on in the off chance that Kanye was being literal.

Tweet: Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed.
Total engagement: 387,613 (299,886 favorites / 87,727 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 6:38 PM

Shortly after outraging countless celebrities and mortals alike—including many of his own followers—by expressing support for President Trump, Kanye decided to take it up a notch. Not only didn't he withdraw his praise for the president, but he doubled down by turning his Twitter guns on President Obama's record.

Tweet: be transparent as possible. Stop setting plays. Stop playing chess with life. Make decisions based on love not fear.
Total engagement: 404,627 (284,876 favorites / 119,751 retweets)
Date: April 17, 2018 at 2:59 PM

Once again, love conquers fear. This familiar theme re-emerged as Kanye reached the section of his online philosophy book dedicated to aspiring artists. This time, however, the Kanyeisms addressed transparency and metaphorical, self-on-self chess games.

Tweet: sometimes we all need hugs
Total engagement: 408,325 (288,925 favorites / 119,400 retweets)
Date: May 21, 2018 at 1:25 PM

Kanye realizes the power of physical expressions of love — in this case, the old-fashioned hug. According to the Times of India, Yeezy was inspired by Indian spiritual leader, Mata Amritanandmayi, known as "Amma Mata" or the "hugging saint." Amma Mata has reportedly hugged more than 33 million people worldwide.

Tweet: You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.
Total engagement: 420,030 (335,891 favorites / 84,139 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 12:30 PM

In a nod to President Trump's legendary ambition and drive, Kanye let the world know he felt a kinship with the president and the "dragon energy" that consumed them both. Anticipating some blowback, Kanye added a few disclaimers and reminded the world that it's possible to love people with whom you sometimes disagree.

Tweet: everyone should be their own biggest fan
Total engagement: 421,497 (300,453 favorites / 121,044 retweets)
Date: April 23, 2018 at 6:16 PM

When he lost Album of the Year to U2 at the Grammys, Kanye made it clear that he should have won the coveted award, and everyone knew it—including U2 frontman Bono. Yeezy, it is clear, is his own biggest fan, and he took to Twitter to encourage everyone else to experience the joy of self-idolization.

Tweet: my wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don't agree with everything Trump does. I don't agree 100% with anyone but myself.
Total engagement: 425,440 (362,398 favorites / 63,042 retweets)
Date: April 25, 2018 at 1:20 PM

When he fired his manager, Kanye stated the reason was that the eccentric star was simply unmanageable. That may be true for his hired help, but apparently not so much for his wife. After catching flak for her husband's newfound support for President Trump, Kim Kardashian West apparently urged Kanye to qualify his statement of support, which he did, while taking the opportunity to point out that the man in the mirror is the only person whose judgment he considers infallible. 

Tweet: Constantly bringing up the past keeps you stuck there
Total engagement: 437,606 (308,923 favorites / 128,683 retweets)
Date: April 22, 2018 at 2:44 PM

Candace Owens is an African-American conservative commentator who has been critical of the Black Lives Matter movement. When Kanye tweeted support for her, he faced a predictable and immediate backlash. In response, he tweeted a string of attacks on what he considers suppression of free thought, much of which he blamed on the public's urge to stay focused on the past at the expense of forwarding progress.

Tweet: when you first wake up don't hop right on the phone or the internet or even speak to anyone for even up to an hour if possible. Just be still and enjoy your own imagination. It's better than any movie.
Total engagement: 444,585 (349,251 favorites / 95,334 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 11:03 AM

Kanye's philosophical brain droppings range from disjointed rants to practical advice that's actually applicable in real life. In this case, it was the latter. Kanye warned of the dangers of digital addiction and suggested that instead of mindlessly flipping through online media, his followers rely on their own imaginations for unlimited streaming content.

Tweet: Be here now. Be in the moment. The now is the greatest moment of our lives and it just keeps getting better. The bad parts the boring parts the parts with high anxiety. Embrace every moment for its greatness. This is life. This is the greatest movie we will ever see.
Total engagement: 452,422 (317,897 favorites / 134,525 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 11:36 AM

In urging his followers to live in the moment, Kanye reverted to a familiar theme—arts and entertainment. Life, you see, is just a movie. Even the portions that are difficult and anxious contribute to the overall plot, but in the end, your life is the greatest screenplay ever released in theaters—and you have a front-row seat.

Tweet: We got love. Agree to disagree pic.twitter.com/kaTcPYH0zL
Total engagement: 470,117 (422,774 favorites / 47,343 retweets)
Date: April 28, 2018 at 12:17 AM

Kanye and Kim are among the greatest power couples in the world—but Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are no slouches, either. After a mild online falling out, John Legend and Kanye West publicly buried the hatchet at a baby shower for supermodel extraordinaire and Twitter goddess Chrissy Teigen.

Tweet: don't trade your authenticity for approval
Total engagement: 515,261 (346,501 favorites / 168,760 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 3:26 PM

In 2014, Sen. Cory Booker schooled his constituents on the value of a purpose-driven life, reminding them not to “trade in authenticity for approval." By then, it was already a well-worn saying, but that didn't stop Kanye from going back to same well to get across the same point four years later.

Tweet: ????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/yEYJP7qrvf
Total engagement: 520,232 (463,790 favorites / 56,442 retweets)
Date: May 8, 2018 at 12:47 AM

Kim Kardashian West showed up to the recent Met Gala looking particularly hourglass-y in a long, form-fitting gown. She arrived, however, stag. That's because Kanye was toiling away at some unfinished albums. But Yeezy paused long enough to use no fewer than 25 flame emojis attached to a picture of his wife to let the world know the temperature he felt her look ignited.

Tweet: naps are awesome
Total engagement: 598,317 (413,500 favorites / 184,817 retweets)
Date: May 6, 2018 at 3:34 PM

Although they should not be a substitute for a good night's sleep, the American Psychological Association released a report in 2016 lauding the benefits of short periods of intermittent sleep commonly referred to as naps. And now, Yeezy largely concurred with the report's findings.

Tweet: if you wanna see the true character of person watch the way they treat someone who can't do anything for them.
Total engagement: 743,987 (513,676 favorites / 230,311 retweets)
Date: April 18, 2018 at 8:12 PM

One of the great things about being a celebrity is that everyone wants to be nice to you. Much of that sentiment, however, is likely contrived by people hoping to get a leg up in the industry. Kanye reminds the world that a person's true nature shows when they interact with people who don't represent a possible stepping stone.

Tweet: me and Cudi album June 8th
Total engagement: 765,421 (523,421 favorites / 242,000 retweets)
Date: April 19, 2018 at 3:32 PM

The single biggest tweet ever fired off by hip-hop's most unpredictable superstar and perhaps its most proficient Twitter author was not a philosophical musing, an inspirational meme-in-the-making or a motivating pun. It was self-promotion. No Kanye tweet has ever done better than the one announcing Yeezy's joint album with Cudi, titled "Kids See Ghosts."