Rapper Kanye West is set to headline the Rolling Loud festival in Los Angeles this summer, with industry executives and Jewish leaders saying his performance poses a threat.
West’s unforeseen upcoming performance at the acclaimed and successful music festival alongside his collaborator Ty Dolla Sign suggests the music industry may be welcoming him back after his face from grace in recent years, according to a report by SFGATE.
While some fans see the rapper as someone who is winning against cancel culture, industry executives and Jewish leaders are concerned that booking West conveys a sense of impunity around his recent antisemitic comments, which included praising Adolf Hitler and saying he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” among other things.
They also wonder why Rolling Loud, being as big as it is, would risk booking an artist surrounded in so much controversy.
“I was surprised when I first heard that Kanye was headlining Rolling Loud because it seemed unnecessarily risky for the festival,” Dave Brooks, Billboard’s senior director of live music and touring, said.
“Ticket sales seemed to be doing well, and the risk that Kanye would say something offensive, have a meltdown or refuse to complete his performance poses a real threat to Rolling Loud’s brand,” Brooks added.
The Billboard executive, however, noted that “the decision makes more sense” when taking into account the fact that West’s recent listening events for his new album, “Vultures 1” — which topped the Billboard album charts for two weeks last month — went off without incident.
“Kanye and Ty have successfully completed five listening party events,” Brooks said. “The Rolling Loud guys are definitely using the performance to drive ticket sales and are positioning themselves to look very smart if the show goes off without any major disruptions.”
Billboard has estimated that West’s five listening parties for “Vultures 1” grossed $12 million.
“Many people — both fans and executives inside of the music industry — are struggling to make sense of Kanye’s return in light of all the antisemitic and terrible things he has said or written on social media,” Brooks said.
“But there is clearly still a big market for Kanye and people willing to work with him,” he added. “Some members of Kanye’s own inner circle are Jewish, and I assume that those individuals aren’t just motivated by money, but care about him and want to help.”
Danya Ruttenberg, a feminist rabbi and author, says she believes West’s upcoming performance at Rolling Loud “makes Jews less safe.”
“Anyone feeling validated by Kanye will feel more comfortable perpetuating literally medieval hate speech after this,” Ruttenberg claimed.
Meanwhile, rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, said, “Kanye has done horrific damage as far as contributing to the never-ending tsunami of antisemitism in this country.”
“The struggle is to keep bigotry out of the mainstream, and there’s nothing more mainstream than a concert with 100,000 people. Putting him front and center is a signal to others that maybe they can sign on too,” Cooper added.
Notably, West’s upcoming performance at Rolling Loud will be his first live show in Los Angeles since his benefit concert with fellow rapper Drake in 2021.
Comments on Rolling Loud’s social media suggest that many fans are excited, or at least neutral, about West’s upcoming performance at the festival, which is considered the biggest rap festival brand in the world.
“As for the fans who support him, I assume they have either forgiven Kanye for his past comments,” Brooks said, adding that they either “simply don’t care, or in some cases, sadly, agree with Kanye.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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