In the song, “Real Friends” from his The Life of Pablo album, Kanye mentioned having to pay his relative a quarter million for the tape:
“I hate when a nigga text you like, ‘What’s up, fam? Hope you good’/You say, ‘I’m good, I’m great’/ the next text they ask you for something/How many?
What’s best for your family, immediate or extended/Any argument, the media’ll extend it.
I had a cousin that stole my laptop that I was fuckin’ bitches on/Paid that nigga 250 thousand just to get it from him/Real friends.”
Franklin says that incident taught Kanye he couldn’t trust anyone in his circle, not even family. It was then that Kanye starting “spazzing out” on Twitter and going on rants during concerts.
Marrying into the Kardashians didn’t help with Kanye’s trust issues, says Franklin. Reality TV’s black widow family has a reputation of only looking out for self while destroying friendships and careers of those who come in their path. Lamar Odom, Scott Disick, and Bruce Jenner are just a few who fans say are victims of the “Kardashian curse”:
“For the most part I don’t look at the Kardashians as real people”, says Franklin. Kanye comes from a very family-orientated environment with roots and African American family lifestyle – you know family reunions with food and things like that. The Kardashians are the complete opposite of what’s familiar in our community. So it’s kind of weird for him and I can understand there’s no way for him to release that”.
“The Kardashians do not represent our family values,” Franklin said. “Kim Kardashian made her way to fame through another sex tape and by showing her body – that’s who she is. When it comes down to substance, from the outside looking in – it doesn’t reflect what’s reality to us. Those are industry people, they live their lives for the camera. Everything they do is for the camera. They are always showing their bodies to get attention from the camera and at the end of the day that isn’t real. If everything was gone who are you in the mirror?”
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