Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s performance at the Rolling Loud California festival in Los Angeles on Thursday night consisted of them standing on stage for an hour while pre-recorded songs from their previously released debut album played over the loudspeakers.
Although the official announcement of the recently added performance was vague, stating “Vultures headlining new Thursday night,” the post has been deleted. However, it can be assumed that the majority of people anticipated the duo, who have been collaborating as Vultures, to provide vocals at the very least. However, rather of performing, the duo, dressed in black hooded attire, including West donning his recognizable hockey mask, just wandered about the circular stage at SoFi Stadium for an hour while their album “Vultures 1” was being played. Following the departure of the duet, a disc jockey proceeded to play popular songs from earlier in West’s artistic journey as the stage became enveloped in a thick fog created by dry ice.
In an interview on Big Boy TV in the early hours of Friday, the duo justified their presence, with West asserting that people were just drawn to the event for the unique encounter it offered.
According to sources, Variety has learned that the festival organizers anticipated a more traditional performance. They even built a unique stage with a circular lighting structure specifically for this set. The performance was announced on February 15th and added as a separate show on Thursday night during the three-day weekend festival. This announcement came several months after the complete lineup was revealed. The event received widespread criticism for including West, mostly because of his recent history of making antisemitic sentiments. These remarks have resulted in his losing his label, publishing agreement, and all of his prominent endorsement arrangements.
There was no prompt verification of the rumors indicating that the duo would get a payment of $10 million for their participation.
Although the structure resembled his prior public album-listening sessions, which he has organized for almost every release since the buildup to the “Life of Pablo” album in 2016, these sessions have always been explicitly promoted as such. Furthermore, they have never before only shown previously released songs, nor had they occurred during a festival. The intention behind the action remаins ambiguous, as it is uncertain if it was a deliberate expression of the album’s success, which Kanye West has proudly boasted about hitting the top spot on the Billboard 200, despite facing criticism, or whether it was a subtle jab at Rolling Loud, a festival where he has previously played on two occasions.
Considering West’s tendency to be contrary, it would not be unexpecteԀ for him to perform with another artist at a later time during the festival, which begins tonight and continues until Sunday. The event will include performances by Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, and the pair of Future and Metro Boomin.
Unsurprisingly, several fans were infuriated while others supported West, but seldom in relation to the format of Thursday night. Thursday-exclusive tickets were available for purchаse for the event, but, attendees who had previously bought tickets for the festival’s primary three nights were not required to pay an additional fee for entry. According to attendees, the gates to the arena were very crowded before to the concert, resulting in several people arriving late.