Long-time fans of Kanye West know all too well what disappointment is. Unlike on stage or in the studio, the indefensible and visionary artist always surpasses himself: when he snatched the microphone from Taylor Swift at the fateful VMAs of 2009, when he discarded the potentially best albums of his career, when he declared himself a Trumpist and assured that slavery was “a choice”… The list is long.
I started listening to his music in 2019, learning his entire discography in time to experience his conversion to Christianity live in ‘JESUS IS KING’. That was a disappointment on a musical level, but nothing compared to what would come later. We complained about his angelic gospel masses with the Sunday Service, but we were happy and we didn’t know it.
His next move, back in 2022, was to start praising Hitler, promoting merchandising with the swastika stamped on it, flooding the networks with anti-Semitism, machismo and nonsense, and dedicating violent and hurtful comments to his closest collaborators. If the misogynistic episode with Taylor seemed to be forgotten in favor of his undisputed masterpiece, his Nazi drift catapulted him to number 1 on the American charts with ‘Vultures’. Kanye always gets his way.
Ye’s listeners were then divided into pre- and post-‘Vultures’, with the latter representing the younger percentage of his audience. Due to the energy with which the mediocre number 1 hit ‘CARNIVAL’ was received, a large part of the concert attendees also belonged to this group. I would like to think that, just like for me, for many this deplorable chapter was not just another one, but a before and after. While Kanye boasted of his impunity by publishing teasers of songs titled ‘Heil Hitler’ or ‘Gas Chambers’ – ironically, this later became the catchy ‘ALL THE LOVE’ -, it was difficult to continue feeling the same inspiration and motivation that his early works gave off.
After asking for forgiveness and attributing his actions to a bipolar disorder, whose origins lie in the car accident he suffered in 2002, Kanye announced his first show in Spain in 20 years for the release of ‘BULLY’. The day before the concert was strange. I felt a lack of hype that seemed unthinkable 5 years ago, the product of a feeling of direct betrayal of the ideals promoted in such essential albums as ‘The College Dropout’ or ‘Graduation’. You could say I lost faith.
My moral discomfort was not the only consequence of the American’s foolish words. Thus, 40,000 seats at the Metropolitan were filled yesterday with foreigners shipwrecked by the cancellation of the tour in France, Poland, Switzerland, Italy and the United Kingdom, with each territory citing West’s aggressive anti-Semitism as a direct reason. The Spaniards, on the other hand, may not even have known that there was a concert because the promotion of the show had been completely non-existent. By the time Kanye stepped on the mat, there were still hundreds of tickets available.
The toxic relationship that we pre-‘Vultures’ fans have with Ye is a study. By appearing lazy, dull and distant, he somehow managed to ensure that during the show we did not think about any of the multiple shortcomings that it presented. The half ball of the world on which it walks, André Troutman’s autotune, the lights and the pyrotechnics (spectacular, it must be said). This is all one of the most important artists of our era has to offer. The show has nothing more. The songs, with many of them being abruptly shortened (“I have another 100 like this”), are what completely sustain a concert that also feels short.
Ye’s catalog is one of the best that any artist can have and, as difficult and unfair as it may seem, it is capable of provoking the deepest oblivion: the chaos and euphoria of ‘On Sight’ and ‘Blood On The Leaves’, the double helping of ‘All Of The Lights’, the parade of classics with ‘Jesus Walks’ or ‘Flashing Lights’, the transcendental ‘Ghost Town’… We were lucky that Kanye prioritized the best albums of his career, from ‘MBDTF’ to ‘Yeezus’, leaving ‘Vultures’ and ‘BULLY’ as mere anecdotes. The concert was totally irregular, but the music never faltered.
While amnesia invaded our minds, the memory of why Kanye means so much to many of us who were there was noticeable when he rapped the fundamental ‘Through The Wire’ from beginning to end or when he dusted off his MPC for ‘Runaway’. Practically, none of us had seen Ye live and moments like these represented the reason we had attended the appointment. This was one of the most repeated phrases when leaving the concert: “It was now or never.”
My companions and I agreed on everything we didn’t like about the concert, from the horrible sound – especially in the songs built with samples – to the anticlimactic and wasted stage. One of my friends asked if anyone was disappointed. We all said no. Once again, Kanye gets his way.
