Entertainment

The 'KUWTK' Season 16 Premiere Included One Major Change For The Show

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Kanye West has been a member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan for years. But now, he's playing a bigger part in the new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, too. Kanye West's confessionals on KUWTK Season 16 show he's not holding anything back as he takes on a more central role in the show.

West's increased participation in the reality show was teased in a New York Times article published Saturday, which revealed that West would be doing KUWTK interviews in Season 16. The outlet also shared that the rapper's input helped reframe the series' opening title credits.

Still, fans probably didn't expect West to dive into his personal business, especially in the first episode. But the season premiere featured a conversation between him, Kardashian, and Rhymefest about the very public disagreement they had last year. West and Rhymefest co-founded the non-profit Donda's House, named after West's late mother. But last May, Rhymefest and Kardashian got into a Twitter fight about the organization, with the reality star tweeting that Rhymefest had "the audacity to use Kanye's mom name to try to shead [sic] a negative light on Kanye."

In the new KUWTK episode, Rhymefest visited Kardashian and West in Los Angeles, and he apologized for not handling the disagreement privately. Kardashian expressed that she'd rather things be dealt with directly, and not on social media. Rhymefest gave Kardashian a diamond crystal as a peace offering, and it seems like the drama between the trio was at least somewhat resolved.

Still, seeing West address his personal beef with a fellow artist isn't exactly typical KUWTK fare. But based on Twitter reactions to the episode, it looks like fans are loving West's elevated role in the show.

In addition to the conversation with Rhymefest, West also appeared in several KUWTK confessionals alongside his wife. The rapper explained that he decided to do the on-camera interviews in part because of his love for Disney-Pixar's The Incredibles.

"It starts off with the interviews. The superheroes are giving interviews," West said in the clip. "The wife's got a big butt, and I just see our life becoming more and more and more like The Incredibles, until we can finally fly."

With West's new involvement on the show, Season 16 marks a new chapter for the Kardashian-Jenner clan. West also expressed multiple times in the episode that he doesn't like "negativity," so he could be a great voice to have around when any interpersonal drama starts to unfold.

Plus, the season started off with West and Kardashian sharing with their family members that they're expecting their fourth child, a son via surrogate. It will be interesting to hear West's perspective about the baby on the way, through confessional interviews and interactions with the family. For now, the "Fade" rapper is "pleased" with the news — apparently, he's stopped using the word "excited." But maybe that will change when he and Kardashian hold their new bundle of joy for the first time.