Kanye West: His 6 Most Shocking Performance Moments!

Kanye West finally announced his “Yeezus” tour. It’s his first solo tour in five years. According to a press release Ye’s show will include “state-of-the-art staging, production, and lighting design with his unmatched aesthetic, visionary creative mind, and an increasingly impressive catalogue of hits spanning his decade-long career.”

Kendrick Lamar has been set as the opening act for some of the shows and there are other special guests yet to be announced. The 23-city, 7-week North American tour, kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 19, in Seattle and ends Dec. 7 in Houston. Tickets go on sale on Friday, Sept. 13.

But Besides the impressive light shows and numerous hit songs, the main reason to catch one of his shows is because this renowned rapper always brings the unexpected. From creative, to emotional, to controversial, let’s take a look back at some of Kanye’s most shocking and impressive performance moments.

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6) 2008 performance with topless astronauts at Casio’s G-Shock anniversary party

In 2008, Casio held a party at Gustavino’s in NYC to celebrate G-Shock’s 25^th anniversary. During the event Kanye took the crowd to future with his performance of “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” as he sat in a white bubble chair rocking shades straight out of Geordi La Forge’s closet, he was surrounded by four naked spacewomen.

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5) 2012 Rant about the media during Atlantic City’s Revel Casino and Resort performance

In the middle of performing “Clique” Kanye unexpectedly went on a rant about the media in which he said, they will “try to tell you ‘Kanye’s so crazy, so deranged. I ain’t crazy, I’m just not satisfied! I just ain’t satisfied with the shit they be feeding y’all on TV, the shit they be feeding ya’ll in the movies, the shit they be giving y’all in the stores. I just want y’all to have more.” He also went on to speak about showing his collection in Paris, critics who said he would never make it in rap for not having a “gansta” image and about refusing to show up at the Grammys that same year.

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4) 2010 VMA performance of “Runaway” featuring Pusha T 

Kanye is no Lady Gaga when it comes to the stage, but during this 2010 VMA performance the rapper proved that a simplistic approach can have a greater visual impact than having a million things going on. While sporting a fire-engine-red suit and playing a white MPC, the rapper stands in the middle of a black-and-white stage with a pure-white background. Throughout his performance he has a few ballerinas dancing on stage. Let’s have a toast to this performance.

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3) 2012 announcement of Kim’s pregnancy during Atlantic City’s Revel Casino and Resort performance

Yes, in that same performance in which the rapper went off on the media and his critics he also felt compelled to tell the crowd of 5,000 about the pregnancy of his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian. At first he began to drop hints in the middle of “Runaway” saying: “God brought us a whole new plan, even if it wasn’t planned.” He then asked the crowd if they understood what he meant, and finally said, “Now you’re having my baby and it means so much to me,” at which point the crowd went wild.

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2) 2011 breakdown during the performance at Milwaukee’s Summefest

At the 2011 Milwaukee Summerfest Kanye performed “Hey Mama,” song dedicated to his mother on his 2005 album, “Late Registration.” Mid performance the rapper went down on his knees and after ending the second verse with “Now when I say Hey, ya’ll say Mama, now everybody answer me, Hey Mama,” he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and put his hand over his eyes. Back in 2007, his mother, Donna West, passed away at age 58. This show of emotion reminds us that Kanye is still human and it allows us to connect with him on a deeper level because the love for a mother is a sentiment most can relate to. At the end of the song his actions were received by a supportive cheer from the crowd.

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1) 2008 tribute to his mother during performance at the Grammys

In 2008, Kanye owned the Grammys. After receiving the award for best rap album, he spoke about the feature of hip-hop and then his mother, at which point background music began to cue the rapper to get off stage, to which he responded, “It would be in good taste to stop the music.” The music went off and the crowd applauded. He continued by saying, “I know you want me to be the number one artist in the world. And, Mama, all I’m going to do is keep making you proud.” While holding the award high, he added: “We run this.”

Later in the evening, West – with the word “MAMA” cut into his hair – left the room in deep silence with his sentimental performance of “Hey Mama.” This was definitely one of the most heartfelt moments in the rapper’s career.

Let us know what you think about our list and if you are planning on catching the legendary rapper on tour.