Wait, so did Kanye West drop out of the 2020 presidential race? It's kinda unclear. But he did qualify to get ont he Oklahoma ballot just in the nick of time. Sigh. Deets on that plus, his new song dedicated to his mother Donda West and more inside….

UPDATE:

While some reports suggest Kanye West is dropping out of the race, it seems he's still making moves to become the commander-in-chief. He reportedly just filed a second set of documents with the Federal Election Commission. TMZ reports:

Ye's latest filing is called a Statement of Candidacy, which shows he's raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign-related expenses. That elevates him to candidacy status under the federal campaign law.

Kanye, of course, lists his party as BDY -- Birthday Party is now abbreviated. He designates the name of his political committee, "Kanye 2020." He also lists his residence as Cody, Wyoming, where he and Kim just bought a massive property.

This is the second -- and more important set of docs -- that Kanye has filed with the FEC. He filed his first set Wednesday -- a Statement of Organization for the campaign, declaring the Kanye 2020 committee will serve as the Principal Campaign Committee.

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Kanye West made headlines when he announced he was running for president on the 4th of July. Days later, he laid out his presidential platform where he announced he would be running the independent route via the “Birthday Party.”

And he was seemingly serious about it.

Ye reportedly filed a Federal Election Commission form where he registered as an independent candidate for the upcoming presidential election in November. However, there are conflicting stories about whether he’s actually going to run or not.

Steve Kramer was hired to help Ye get on the presidential ballot, but he claims the Chi-town rapper is no longer running.

“He’s out,” Kramer told New York Magazine.

However, Page Six claims he’s still in the running despite reports that he dropped out.

The report noted that he had yet to file Form 2 – Statement of Candidacy – that confirms that he’s raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign activities, which triggers his candidacy status under federal campaign laws.

The development comes a day after a report said he was already bowing out of the race.

TMZ reports he's been on the OK ballot:

He did not meet Thursday's deadline in Florida, though, a major battleground state for the Presidency.

If the Jesus Is King rapper does decide to continue his run, he still has more paperwork to fill out. The NY Daily News reports:

However, FEC spokesman Christian Hilland told the Daily News that a “Statement of Candidacy” must be filed before West’s presidential run is made official. Such a form is only activated if West raises or spends “more than $5,000 in campaign activity,” Hilland said.

The so-called “Statement of Organization” form was submitted to the FEC with a person named Andre Bodiford listed as West’s campaign treasurer.

The form establishes “a principal campaign committee” for West’s presidential aspirations, according to the paperwork.

Bodiford did not return multiple requests for comment, and it’s unclear whether West actually plans to run for president.

As of now, it seems Kanye appearing on future ballots is up in the air. And honestly, it's for th ebest.  The quality of our lives in this country hang in the balance of what is purely a numbers game at this point.  And Kanye deliberately tilting scales (it only takes a few thousand votes to do this) one way or another by taking votes away from either party, all for his own pr stunt of a campaign, is ridiculous.

If you really want to make waves, run for local office where you have far more affect on the everyday lives of the people.

In music news...

On Sunday, July 12th, Ye dropped a track titled "Donda" in honor of his late mother, Donda West. She would have been 71.

“There can never really be justice on stolen land,” Donda says in the clip. “Are you really for peace and equality? Or when my car’s hooked up — know you wanna follow me? Your laws are minimal because you won’t even think about the real criminal. This has got to cease ’cause we been getting hype to the sound of the police.”

The visual features clips of Ye on the beach and vintage footage of the rapper and his mother as she recites lyrics from Hip Hop legend KRS-One’s song “Sound of a da Police.”

Check it:

In loving memory of my incredible mother on her birthday My mom reciting KRS1 lyrics This song is called DONDA pic.twitter.com/YWKhqYYu2E

— ye (@kanyewest) July 13, 2020

Before he dropped his new track…

The PABLO rapper shared a screenshot of a text message he sent to Power 105’s Charlamagne tha God:

pic.twitter.com/SLrt8OpuDi

— ye (@kanyewest) July 10, 2020

“Good morning brother it’s Kanye,” Ye texted the radio host. “May I call you?”

“Peace King. Yes sir,” Charlamagne responded.

Is their another Kanye & Charlamagne interview in the works? Possibly. In case you missed their first interview, you can get the juicy highlights HERE.

By the way…

The “Breakfast Club” co-host just landed a new gig. He’s set to host a new series that will be a weekly half-hour show with a focus on current events and cultural issues. No word when it will premiere, but it’s reported the goal is to have it in production by the November election.

Vulture reports:

The deal with Comedy Central reunites Charlamagne with Chris McCarthy, president of the Entertainment and Youth Group at Comedy Central parent company ViacomCBS. The duo first worked together nearly a decade ago, when the exec ran MTV2 and Charlamagne was a regular on the network’s breakout hit Guy Code. Charlamagne later went on to host two talk shows for the network, Charlamagne & Friends and Uncommon Sense. McCarthy, who revealed his deal with Charlamagne Tuesday in a story about his larger effort to reinvent Comedy Central as a multiplatform brand, said he was glad to be back in business with his longtime friend. “Charlamagne’s voice is very right for today,” he said. “It’s fresh and real and resonating in a way that very few can do.”

Charlamagne’s new gig only fuels rumors that The Breakfast Club could be on the verge of ending. Word on the curb is that Charlamagne, DJ Envy and Angela Yee haven’t been getting along. It’s said Envy & Yee were upset Charlamagne interviewed presidential hopeful Joe Biden by himself. Hmph.

Nothing has been confirmed, but where there’s smoke…

Photo: Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com