Kanye West slams Apple partner Nike, pimps Kim Kardashian's Kimoji app in 'Facts' diss track

The 2016 edition of producer-turned-rapper-turned-designer Kanye West's annual New Year's Eve drop took the form of a diss track aimed squarely at longtime Apple partner Nike, while Yeezus also seized the opportunity to promote his wife's Kimoji app that he claims "shut down the App Store."

Kanye asserted his dominance from the start, claiming that his Yeezy line — manufactured in conjunction with Adidas — "jumped over Jumpman," referencing the famous logo used by Nike's Air Jordan line. He goes on to say that Nike "wouldn't have nothin'" without their collaborations with fellow hip-hop artists Drake and Don C, the latter a close Kanye collaborator.

This logic is suspect at best given Nike's utter domination of the sportswear market, especially in the U.S. The company is several times larger than Adidas by revenue, and the gulf only continues to widen.

Nike is also the only sportswear firm — though no longer the only clothing maker — to have an official partnership with Apple, a company that West has repeatedly held up as the gold standard of creativity. He once, apparently seriously, described himself as the "Steve Jobs of The Gap":

"When I say Steve Jobs of the Gap, as I talk to the people at the Gap right now I'm not talking about a capsule," he told Vogue. "I'm talking about full Hedi Slimane creative control of the Gap is what I would like to do."

The Apple-Nike relationship dates back to the early days of the iPod and has only deepened in recent years, with Apple chief executive Tim Cook sitting on the Oregon footwear giant's board of directors.

West thankfully took a moment out of Facts to discuss his wife's foray onto Apple's App Store, where she has had runaway successes with her Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and Kimoji apps:

Plus Kimoji just shut down the app store, uh!

And we made a million a minute, we made a million a minute

(We did)

Yeah, we made a million a minute, we made a million a minute, ah!

While AppleInsider cannot speak to the veracity of West's financial claims, Kimoji's impact on App Store operations does seem to be overstated. Apple subsequently denied that the App Store experienced any problems at all, let alone any caused by a rush of Kimye's fans.

It's also worth noting that while Facts can't be streamed on Apple Music, the track is likewise unavailable on Jay-Z-backed Tidal — a service in which West is a major shareholder.