Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West , performed in China for the first time in 16 years on Sunday, to the great surprise of his fans worldwide. The musician, who was accompanied by wife Bianca Censori and ex-wife Kim Kardashian , brought on stage his children North , Saint, Chicago, and Psalm to perform with him his track “Everybody” from his album Vultures . The show, or listening party as Ye prefers to call them, was held at the Wuyuan River Sports Stadium in Hainan’s capital city, Haikou, and sold out all 42,000 tickets.
Ye also announced plans for his next album, debuting a new song titled “Preacher Man.” Rumours are swirling on Chinese social media about Ye putting on a second show in Haikou on 21 September. A hashtag about his show saw over 1.
7 million interactions on Chinese social media site Weibo, with most asking the simple question, “How?” according to The Guardian . However, several aspects of his show have left fans both shocked and confused; the fact that the concert was held in a small province like Hainan as opposed to bigger cities such as Beijing or Shanghai, and that he was able to hold the concert in China at all. China is known for its inflexible restrictions on foreign performers, controlling tightly what they can and cannot say.
Authorities require performers to submit set lists as well as song lyrics to receive approval for tours, which most often they are unable to secure. Justin Bieber was barred from performing in China in 2017.