Kanye West's set at Philadelphia's Made In America festival was surely the most anticipated of the night. Rumors from "multiple sources" claimed that Ye, who has been vocal about working on his new album, would be premiering some new material at the event.
While we didn't get any fresh music (save for a new waterfall installment, the sounds of which we wouldn't put it past Ye to rap over), the fans definitely got more than they asked for, with Yeezy performing an hour-plus long set filled with hits, and of course, some colorful commentary.
With his former DJ, Mano out of the equation, Kanye still managed to find someone to give hell to, calling out the lighting technician for not keeping up with the transitions, even stopping the music a few times to personally instruct him.
At one point, he opened a monologue on creativity, race, and criticism.
People want to make a joke out of how hard we work, you know what I'm saying, whether it's South Park making a joke a long time ago about us going to the fashion shows, whether it's MTV recently making a joke...it's fine, it's all funny and everything, but don't distract from my mission. It's not a joke what we do up here. This music is not a joke. What we do, culturally, is not a joke. When I was at an all-black school and people used to pick on the only white girl, that was not a joke. So for me, to be in a very publicised interracial relationship, it's not a joke. It's something that should be treated with respect. 'Cause we're all in this together. You know, they try to make it seem like a self-absorbed thing, but the bottom line is, I want to be able to create more, to create more that can help more people.
Watch the full set below.
[via]