People who were once close to Ye claim that the Donda 2 artist has had a longtime fascination with Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler.

Ye's fascination with Adolf Hitler, the German dictator and leader of the Nazi Party, apparently isn't new. Several people who were once close to the artist spoke with CNN about the obsession, and claimed that his 2018 album Ye was originally supposed to be titled Hitler. The rapper-producer's eponymous album was his eighth LP and featured appearances from Nicki Minaj, PartyNextDoor, Ty Dolla $ign, Ant Clemons, 070 Shake, Jeremih, Charlie Wilson and former friend Kid Cudi.

“He would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people,” one source told CNN. The source is a business executive who once worked with the artist formerly known as Kanye West, later leaving the position amid workplace complaints of harassment.

The source also noted that Ye spoke openly about reading Hitler's 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf, and expressed an "admiration" for Hitler and the Nazis for their use of propaganda.

The report comes four years after Ye professed his "love" for Hitler on TMZ, also claiming that "slavery was a choice." After continuing to push antisemitic theories on social media and in public media appearances, the Yeezy founder has been dropped from business partnerships with Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga and more. The separation didn't seem to phase Ye, who made an Instagram post on Thursday (October 27) with the message “I LOST 2 BILLION DOLLARS IN ONE DAY AND I’M STILL ALIVE.”