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Elon Musk Responds To Kanye West's "CARNIVAL" Mention By Quoting Nicki Minaj's "Starships"
On Saturday (Feb. 10), Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign debuted their long-awaited LP, VULTURES 1. The project boasted a number of standout cuts, such as “BEG FORGIVENESS,” “BURN,” and “BACK TO ME.”
One song in particular, “CARNIVAL,” saw West name-dropping Tesla CEO Elon Musk, among other celebrities. He rapped, “Elon, where my rocket ship? It’s time to go home.”
Today (Feb. 12), Musk responded to West tweeting a video of himself performing the record with the aforementioned lyric in the caption. The business mogul wrote, “[Starships] were meant to fly, and our next one launches in about three weeks, but I recommend waiting for a few more test flights before hopping on board.”
Musk also tagged Nicki Minaj in the post, referring to her 2012 hit song “Starships.”
Starship were meant to fly and our next one launches in about 3 weeks, but I recommend waiting for a few more test flights before hopping on board @NICKIMINAJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 12, 2024
West and Musk’s friendship dates all the way back to 2011. The Chicago native was given a private tour of the SpaceX rocket factory that same year. In 2015, the tech billionaire also praised the rapper for TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” list.
“He wants everybody else to do the same: to engage, question, push boundaries. Now that he’s a pop-culture juggernaut, he has the platform to achieve just that. He’s not afraid of being judged or ridiculed in the process,” Musk stated.
Nevertheless, the pair has had some rough patches since then, including West getting suspended from Twitter after posting a swastika inside the Star of David. In October 2023, the Yeezy designer also accused Musk of not supporting him during his divorce from Kim Kardashian.
Meanwhile, West starred in a Super Bowl LVIII ad promoting Yeezy on Sunday (Feb. 11). “Hey y’all, this Ye, and this is my commercial. And since we spent all the money on the commercial spot, we actually didn’t spend any money on the actual commercial,” he said during the 30-second video.