The rise and fall of one of hip-hop’s most famous couples, rapper Kanye West and model Amber Rose, has been a thing of tabloid fame for years, with the two garnering even more media attention after the breakup, with West publicly dissing his ex on stage and in song. But now, the emcee seems to be singing — or rather rapping — a different tune about Rose. At a recent “Watch The Throne” tour stop in Philadelphia, West dedicated his performance of “Runaway” to Rose and thanked the city, her hometown, for creating his beloved ex.
According to MTV’s RapFix, West supposedly began dedicating his performance of the song to Rose on Oct. 30 during a tour stop in North Carolina. There, an emotional Ye told the audience, “Love gets hard sometimes, but do me a favor — if you love someone tonight, hold on real tight,” he said, proceeding to sing the song’s opening line repeatedly. “You can always find something wrong, ’cause that’s what I did,” Yeezy continued. “I thought you’d always be mine. If I said I didn’t love you I’d be lying.”
While many were left wondering whether West was talking about his former fiancée Alexis Phifer or Rose, during The Throne’s Philadelphia concert on Nov. 2, Ye left no question as to whom his heart was speaking.
“I know love ain’t always easy, especially when people are in your business, like they are with me all the time. Y’all gonna fight. Y’all gonna argue. It’s gonna be people hating on y’all and s–t,” said West. And as the song came to a close, West directly cited Rose as the inspiration for his song. “To the city of Philly, I want to thank y’all for making the incredible person that this song was made for,” West said.
Ironically, according to XXL, Rose’s current boyfriend, Wiz Khalifa, also thanked Philadelphia a few days before West for creating his girlfriend.
“Philly, thank you for making her, but she’s mine now,” Wiz told the audience on Oct. 29.
The day after The Throne’s Philly show, Complex spoke to Rose about Ye’s dedication to her and Rose, though admitting that West had been an “a–hole” to her during and after their relationship, thanked him for his kind words.
“I’ll say this — I didn’t even know about it. This is my 50th interview today and every single person has asked me, and it made me go see what the hell they were talking about, because I don’t keep up on the current events of Kanye. I just don’t look him up.
“A lot of it is just negativity and I don’t like to bring that energy into my life. But I did look at it and he said that, he said um, ‘When I said that I didn’t like your dress, I was an a–hole. When I said that I didn’t like your hair, I was an a–hole.’
“And he was an a–hole. He was. I feel like he gets that now, and he’s remorseful about being an a–hole to me.
“But he called me an incredible person, and I take that as an apology. And if it was an apology, I forgive him for being an a–hole. I don’t hold any grudges. I don’t hate him. I want him to find a girl and for him to treat her better than he treated me.
“The next girl, she doesn’t deserve that. I found pure happiness with Wiz. Why wouldn’t I want that for Kanye? I want everyone to have that, to feel the way I feel about Wiz.”
Well, they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but with an innovator like West, it’s clear that he’s not only learned to change the landscape of music, but the terrain of his heart as well. Perhaps, one day, it won’t be a song of love lost that he dedicates to a woman, but a song of love found — and kept. –nicholas robinson
