Kanye West, now known as Ye, has always been a lightning rod for controversy in the West, that hasn't stopped the polarizing hip-hop luminary from drawing massive crowds in the East over the past month. In support of Vultures 2, the second instalment in his album series with Ty Dolla $ign, Ye has been hosting listening parties and shows across South Korea and China recently, which have garnered hype and backlash in equal amounts.
In August, the Ye x Ty Dolla Sign Vultures Listening Experience took place at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi province, marking his first appearance in South Korea in 14 years. The event made headlines becomes Ye played or performed an astonishing 74 songs during that showcase, including older hits such as 'Runaway' and 'Monster'. The extended performance attarcted over 35,000 attendees, and over 1.4 million views on Ye's YouTube livestream.
The event was graced by the presence of several K-pop luminaries such as NewJeans members Minji, Hanni and Danielle; aespa members Winter and Giselle; Red Velvet's Seulgi; 2NE1 members CL and Minzy; singer Jeon So-mi; rappers Zion. T and Dean; and Treasure members Jihoon and Choi Hyun-suk. The stars faced immense backlash online for attending the show, primarily due to notorious past actions and statements of the infamous rapper.
Even more fascinating was the 24-time Grammy winner's listening experience in China this month. The greenlight for Ye's show was already surprising off the jump, given the Chinese government's stringent regulation of performances and music (foreign artists have to submit set lists and lyrics for vetting), tightened controls on speech, as well as their declared war on hip-hop in 2018. What raised even more eyebrows was that the event was taking place in the island province of Hainan, instead of Beijing or Shanghai.
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The core of these unlikely turns could be purely financial. "“Vigorously introducing new types of performances desired by young people, and concerts from international singers with super internet traffic, is the outline for future high-quality development,” reads a statement on Haikou's (the capital of Hainan) government website. In recent years, the Chinese government has also sought to turn Hainan into a major commercial hub.
More drama enfolded, this time natural instead of political. 9 days before the show, Super Typhoon Yagi decimated the venue, Wuyuanhe Stadium. Haikou' government scrambled every construction resource they had to get it repaired in time. An extraordinary expense that added to the already hefty amount of administrative resources that went into securing a permit for Ye’s show, as revealed by the city's cultural and tourism bureau chief Wang Ke.
KANYE WEST PERFORMED “EVERYBODY” ALONG WITH YE's KIDS(North, Psalm, Chicago, Saint) pic.twitter.com/HWP1xqS6Ld
— Ye (@ye_world_) September 15, 2024
The efforts seem to have paid off because Ye's show drew an estimated 42,000 concertgoers, 97% of which came from outside Hainan. This presented a significant economic boost for the city. For his part, Ye was well behaved during the showcase - choosing to present wholesome moments such as bringing his 4 children on stage to perform with him, and highlighting that Ye himself lived in China as a kid when his mom worked as a teacher in Nanjing.
Given that mainstream brands and outlets are still unwilling to be associated with Ye due his racist and hompohobic remarks and boorish past behaviour, as well as the overwhelmingly negative critical reception of his latest album - it remains unlikely that Ye will rebound to reach the heights of popularity he's had in the past. But if this past month has proven anything, it's that the artist still has legions of followers and plenty of avenues with which to ply to his craft.
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