YNW Melly Asks Kanye West For Help After Having His Early Release Request Denied

YNW Melly, who was reportedly diagnosed with COVID-19 while in jail awaiting trial for two counts of first-degree murder, put out an S.O.S. on Twitter, reaching out to one of his biggest collaborators for help: Kanye West. The two rappers previously worked together on Melly’s We All Shine single, “Mixed Personalities,” which is one of the younger rapper’s biggest hits to date. Late in the afternoon on Thursday, April 16, Melly or his representatives tweeted to Kanye’s account, “Need your help,” requesting the hit maker to send a direct message.

While it’s impossible to know whether or not Kanye saw the request or responded, it’s easy to imagine how his work with prison reform might make him an attractive resource for the distressed Melly. Further to that work, he’s also got the ear of the current occupant of the Oval Office and has used that influence to try to help out younger rappers in the past. In 2019, Donald Trump reached out to the Swedish authorities on behalf of the then-incarcerated ASAP Rocky at Kanye’s behest, although Sweden’s Prime Minister declined to release the rapper on Trump’s say-so.

However, Melly’s team shouldn’t get their hopes too high that Kanye could again sway Trump to reach out on an incarcerated rapper’s behalf. For one thing, Rocky was only locked up on assault charges, while Melly is set to go on trial for allegedly murdering two of his YNW crew members in an attempt to fake a drive-by. For another, it was later revealed that Trump only reached out for Rocky as a publicity stunt, one that has since backfired spectacularly, causing the already insecure politician more public embarrassment. And since Melly’s request for early release due to his coronavirus diagnosis was already denied by a judge, there’s little Trump could do legally speaking.

While Melly’s tweet leaves it unclear what exactly he needs Kanye’s help with, all this is just speculation, but here’s hoping that the rapper at least recovers from his symptoms enough to see a fair trial.