Kanye West made a roaring return to the stage, joining Travis Scott in Rome for his first live show since his antisemitic rants.
The embattled rapper has taken to strolling around barefoot recently, and the “Utopia” concert at Rome’s Circus Maximus Monday was no different. Ye left his shoes and socks behind to step out on stage at the historic Italian arena Monday night (August 7).
Scott introduced his longtime friend and collaborator as the “only one human being on this mother f###### planet that has ever walked side by side with me through anything and every mother f###### thing.”
While he was a little rusty, forgetting some of the lyrics, Kanye West rocked the stage alongside Travis Scott. The duo performed Donda‘s “Praise God” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” from his 2007 album, “Graduation.”
Travis Scott gave Kanye West his flowers for opening the door, praising the rapper for blazing a trail.
“There is no Utopia without Kanye West,” he declared before adding, “There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West. There is no Rome without Kanye West.”
The crowd then lost their collective minds when Scott roared, “Make some noise for Ye.”
“There is no Utopia without Kanye West, there is no Travis Scott without Kanye West, there is no rome without Kanye West”
— Yeezyrih (@Yeeezyrih) August 7, 2023THE CROWD IS CHANTING KANYE’S NAME! WE LOVE YOU @kanyewest
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Elsewhere during the show, La Fame shared his wish to hit the road with Ye, although he didn’t give a date.
“Ye West — the illest of all m############ time,” Scott told concertgoers. “Hopefully one day we can do that G####### tour.”
Meanwhile, Billboard announced Monday that Scott’s Utopia soared to the top of the Billboard 200. The feat marked the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album (behind Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift). Travis Scott reportedly earned the second-largest streaming week of the year and the biggest vinyl sales week (in the United States) for a rap album since 1991.