Kanye West has performed live for the first time since March 2020.
The 44-year-old rapper donned a creepy mask and clothes from Balenciaga as he took to the stage at the wedding reception of D’Estree founder Geraldine Guiotte and Tiffany & Co EVP Alexander Arnault in Venice, Italy, to sing four songs for guests, which included Pharrell Williams, Questlove, Jay-Z and Beyonce.
Kanye chose to sing ‘Runaway’ and ‘Flashing Lights’ and also gave the live debut to two songs from his new album ‘Donda’, ‘Come To Life’ and ‘Believe What I Say’.
Excluding his on-stage appearances for his ‘Donda’ album playback stadium events, Kanye hasn’t performed in front of a crowd since his Sunday Service shows in March 2020.
Following the release of ‘Donda’ in August, the ‘All Day’ rapper broke Olivia Rodrigo’s Spotify record for the most-streamed album in 24 hours.
And on Apple Music, the record topped their chart in 152 countries, and all but eight songs made the top 20 on Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 Global songs chart within two days of release.
The streaming success comes after Kanye released a brief statement accusing his record label of making his 10th studio album available without his approval, as well as blocking him from releasing ‘Jail, Pt. 2’, which features controversial rapper DaBaby and rocker Marilyn Manson, who has been accused of abuse by a number of women, including his ex-fiancee Evan Rachel Wood.
In the typed-out message, Kanye told his 7.8 million Instagram followers: “UNIVERSAL PUT MY ALBUM OUT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM.”
Initially, all but one song was released, with ‘Jail, Pt. 2’ being added hours later on Sunday (29.08.21), with DaBaby spitting about the homophobic comments he made about HIV and AIDS at Rolling Loud Festival.
He raps: “I said one thing they ain’t like, threw me out like they ain’t care for me/ Threw me out like I’m garbage, huh?/ And that food that y’all took off my table/ You know that feed my daughters, huh? (Mmm)/ But I ain’t really mad, ’cause when I look at it/ I’m getting them snakes up out my grass.”
Manson – who sparked outrage when he joined Kanye and DaBaby on stage at his recent Chicago listening party for the LP – appears on the hook.