One of the top rappers in the U.S. music industry Kanye West has recently made headlines for many reasons not connected to his art – his support for U.S. President Donald Trump, his thoughts on slavery and more. Here’s another one. He shall henceforth be referred to as ‘Ye’.

"The being formally (sic) known as Kanye West. I am Ye," he wrote on Twitter.

Kanye West -- or, rather, Ye -- announced the name change shortly before he appeared on "Saturday Night Live," the widely watched television show in the U.S.

As you can see, he has also instituted this change on his twitter handle.

Ye has long been a nickname for Kanye West, along with Yeezy, and he chose "Ye" as the title of his last album. He has previously said that he found a spiritual significance to "Ye" – the plural or formal version of the second-person pronoun in Middle English. Speaking to radio host Big Boy about his last album also called 'Ye', he said: "I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the bible, and in the bible it means 'you.' "So, I'm you, I'm us, it's us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye - just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are."

Kanye West closed the Saturday Night Live show by singing a track off "Ye" while wearing one of President Donald Trump's signature red "Make America Great Again" caps.

After the live show ended, West stayed on the microphone and gave an impromptu speech about politics, again voicing his support for the U.S. president.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2018 07:12 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).