Kanye West calls out Nike exec: 'He just lost culture'

Kanye West on Nov. 20, 2013 in New York City. / Josiah Kamau, BuzzFoto/FilmMagic

By now we've learned that if Kanye West has a problem with you, you're gonna hear about it.

West called out Nike CEO Mark Parker during his Wednesday Yeezus tour stop in Nashville, voicing his frustration about working with Parker and the company, the Associated Press reports.

'Do you know who the head of Nike is?' West asked the audience at Bridgestone Arena, deciding to name names after speaking in allusive terms just before. 'No, well let me tell you who he is: His name is Mark Parker, and he just lost culture. Everyone at Nike, everyone at Nike, Mark Parker just let go of culture.'

The rapper/entrepreneur/self-described god had worked with Nike to produce his Air Yeezus shoes in 2009, but the relationship between West and the company has been strained.

West recently told New York's Hot 97 that Nike refused to pay him royalties on the shoes. 'Nike told me, 'We can't give you royalties because you're not a professional athlete.' I told them, 'I'll go to the Garden and play one-on-no one.' I'm a performance athlete.'

In Nashville, he continued to publicly state his point.

'I'm talking directly to you. No miscommunication,' he said, calling out Parker. 'Did you not want the Yeezys? Nike would make you believe it was my fault that you couldn't get them, but that was not the case. I wanted there to be as many Yeezys as there was LeBrons, and I wanted them to be at a good price, but that was not my choice, and we're going to change everything. And â?¦ I'm going to create more than you think that any musician in the history of time ever could have.'

He recently announced that he's now teaming up with Adidas, who will give him royalties on shoes.

In his diatribe, the Bound 2 singer also touched on creativity and culture, about which he passionately spoke about when guest lecturing at Harvard's Graduate School of Design recently.

We wonder if Nike's enjoying being in a 'rap feud' as much as Jimmy Kimmel says he did when West ranted against the late-night host on Twitter in September.

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