interviews
Kanye West's Biggest Fan 'Prodbyzaqq' Reacts To 'Da Goat No Cap's' Recent Antisemitic Remarks
Kanye West's recent antisemitic remarks during an appearance on Infowars have shocked, upset and hurt many people across the world, but Prodbyzaqq might be feeling that pain more than most.
We reached out to Zaqq shortly after Ye's comments and he told us:
"As GOATED & influential [as] Ye has been in music over the years, I could NEVER stand behind any of this hateful bullshit. It don’t matter what color, race, religion or any of that you are, we all deserve to be treated fairly no matter what. There’s enough hate and negativity in the world as is, he don’t need to add to it, especially with a platform the size of Kanye’s."
Prodbyzaqq, a musician and rapper himself, went viral earlier this year when Ye fans started to notice him commenting "Ye Da 🐐 No 🧢" on every post Ye made on Instagram. His comments, often becoming the top most-liked, were screenshotted and began to spread to forums like /r/Kanye, where Zaqq gained notoriety as a love-him-or-hate-him character in the Kanye community. Some admired his dedication, while others saw him as an annoyance, especially as he continued to post the comments while Ye was having a very public online feud with Pete Davidson and his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
Zaqq used the virality to his benefit, producing a music video titled "Da Goat No Cap", appearing on No Jumper and Anthony Fantano's channel and even hooking up with us here at Know Your Meme for an interview. He even got an Instagram repost and follow from Ye for his dedication, the ultimate award for a fan like Zaqq.
When we spoke to Zaqq back in March, he described himself as a Ye "superfan," hyping up Ye's influence on music more than anything else and wishing the best for the enigmatic artist through his mental health struggles. Eight months later, following an increasingly hateful string of antisemitic remarks from Ye, including his most recent claims that he sees "good things about Hitler" on Infowars, Zaqq is still willing to hype him up for his musical influence, but not so much as a person.
Zaqq tells us that he first noticed Ye stepping into dangerous territory when he wore a white lives matter shirt during Paris Fashion Week. Seeing Ye talk up Hitler, though, was something else completely.
"As an artist who has looked up to Ye for such a long time, to see one of my heroes speak positively about Hitler and the Nazis the way he did totally fuckin sucks […] it hurts to see this shit. Of all the valid points Kanye West has made over the years, the comments made [on Infowars] were [for sure] NOT one of them. Shit was totally outta pocket."
Right after his Infowars appearance, Ye hopped on Twitter, where he continued to raise the concern of his current and former fans and pretty much everyone else across the western world as the story blew up. He was banned by Elon that night when he shared the Raelism symbol, a swastika within a Star of David, seemingly boasting it as the symbol for his 2024 presidential run.
When asked about Ye's ban from Twitter, Zaqq told us, "When you're posting swastikas merged with the Star of David…after telling the whole world you 'like Hitler' and 'love nazis,' you’re just kinda asking for whatever comes your way at that point." Since Ye's comments, Zaqq has been memeing through the pain, even going viral on Twitter for calling the situation his 9/11.
Despite the controversial comments, Zaqq is still willing to recognize the influence that Ye has had on hip-hop and music in general and is quick to remind us of Ye's mental health struggles, which could be playing a part in his descent into antisemitism. Zaqq even used the classic "he made Graduation" line to emphasize this, "Graduation" being Ye's third album and many fans' favorite.
"There’s no doubt Kanye has given us some of the most classic, best music of all time, but sometimes you just gotta try to separate the music from the artist. I mean we’re literally talking about the man who made "Graduation." I know Kanye struggles with mental illness, I’m just hoping this is an episode he’s getting through and he realizes he gotta chill on the hate bc he’s making it hard for anyone to be a Ye fan right now."
Zaqq tells us that he's not embarrassed for spamming Ye's posts with his classic "Ye Da 🐐 No 🧢" comment and he has no regrets because he doesn't agree with his hateful remarks; Ye being da goat no cap has always related to his influence on music more than anything else. He also says he's "praying for [Ye]" because it's "clear he’s been going through a lot." Ultimately, Zaqq tells us:
"Ye is solidified as da goat no cap for what he’s done for music and fashion but he’s fucking with his own legacy and image right now. Shit's upsetting for real."
Ye has once again started posting to Instagram following his Twitter ban and in classic Prodbyzaqq fashion, the man is still dominating the top of every comment section with his spam comments. Zaqq commented roughly 23 times on Ye's most recent post, with comments including "PRAISE GOD❤️❤️❤️,"Elon da 🐐 no 🧢" and the amended, "Ye da 🐐 no 🧢… but it’s been a rough month," gaining over 1,300 likes alone.
As it stands, Prodbyzaqq is an ultimate example of what Ye's recent comments have done to his fanbase. Ye has essentially created a chasm between fans who now feel forced to either separate the art from the artist or drop Ye completely so he doesn't end up in their Spotify Wrapped again next year.
There is still a lot of love left for Ye in the hearts of dedicated fans like Prodbyzaqq, but it can be hard to separate the art from the artist at extreme times like this. As we go forward these next few weeks and Ye reportedly inches closer to his appearance on an Adin Ross' stream, Prodbyzaqq will continue to pray and wish for Ye to take back the antisemitic comments and get the help he needs.
"Hopefully Ye pulls himself outta this slump," he tells us, "I miss da old Kanye, no cap."