More than 20 years have passed. That 2nd of March 2006 was the last and only time Kanye West performed in Spain. Already a hip-hop phenomenon, he performed at the Razzmatazz venue in Barcelona for 2,000 people. Tonight at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, it is estimated that 70,000 people will enjoy, almost exclusively in all of Europe, the monumental show of the renamed 'Ye' which includes songs from his 12 albums, mainly from the latest one: Bully.
Bully means more to the Chicago giant, that ambitious and somewhat "arrogant" -in the words of his mother, always present in all the artist's success, the Language Professor Donda West- producer, brilliant creator of beats for others (including Jay-Z in The Blueprint) who struggled to transition to a rapper: in 2002 he signed with Roc-a-Fella and everything took off. Bully, which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and several songs - including Father with Travis Scott and I Can't Wait with the participation of Lauryn Hill - topped the charts, is, for Kanye, much more than all his previous number ones. "After a year of the project, I had a crisis. So this is a celebration and a victory, a success story of people who, despite dealing with mental health crises, have managed to overcome them and reach number one on the charts with everything that was done and said," he proclaimed these days.
With permission from Bad Bunny or Nick Cave, it is the concert of the summer in Madrid. The anticipation multiplies with a genius permanently associated with controversy, with outbursts and provocation. He has seen how several European countries banned a show that, not long ago, in April at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (his first major concert in the US since 2021), raised 33 million dollars with an impressive stage setup floating above a globe. This setup will also be seen at the Atlético de Madrid stadium.
Last January, the rapper apologized in The Wall Street Journal, in a full-page ad, for his behavior close to Nazism, especially when in May 2025 he released Heil Hitler, the third single from an album that was going to be titled Cuck and ultimately never saw the light: "I did things that I deeply regret. I treated some of the people I love the most in the worst way. I disconnected from my true self." A public acknowledgment of his past behavior in which he openly talked about how he manages a severe mental health disorder. He spoke of his "break" with reality, of the car accident he had 25 years ago that caused "an injury to the right frontal lobe of the brain." "One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar disorder type 1 are the moments of disconnection, many of which I still do not remember [...], but that does not justify what I did. I am not a Nazi or anti-Semitic. I love the Jewish people," he stated.
Ye was canceled in Australia, the UK, France, Poland, and Switzerland, although he has not given up on his dream of returning to the UK and performing there. He knows it will take time to convince and persuade the authorities, but he is willing to collaborate with them to help them better understand his previous bipolar episode. And so his British fans can enjoy what will be seen in Madrid, a gigantic and futuristic stage setup, with the famous inflatable sphere approximately 30 meters in diameter - a structure designed by the visual director Aus Taylor on which he performs standing - simulating the planet Earth and simultaneously serving as a stage, projection screen, and architectural element.
His tour, in which he performs several of the hits that made him a legend in his 30-year career, 16 albums, and 24 Grammy awards, has already stopped in Istanbul - 118,000 spectators at the Ataturk -, Arnhem, or Tbilisi. Concerts that have been carried out safely, without controversies, and without the performance of the song Heil Hitleror any manifestations of antisemitism. At the concert in Albania, held on July 11 in Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that the concert generated over 100 million euros in revenue for the country. Ye's next stops will be in Almaty (August 14), New Orleans (August 28), Chicago (September 3 and 4), and Jakarta on October 24.
Because Kanye (an Ethiopian-French name), is much more than a groundbreaking rapper and a man of all controversies from his first marriage to Kim Kardashian and currently with Bianca Censori, with whom he has spent the last few days in Ibiza. The self-made man from the streets of Chicago is a business factory. He recently felt the impact of losing support from some brands, but in 2021, already on Forbes' list of millionaires the previous year, he had an estimated fortune of 6.6 billion dollars, mainly from his businesses in fashion and athletic footwear. His music catalog that year was estimated at 110 million.
According to the official certification figures from the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA), Ye ranks as the second artist with the most certifications in history (130), surpassing other phenomena like Drake (98), Beyoncé (92), Taylor Swift (87), or Eminem (85), only behind Elvis Presley (155). And tied with Michael Jackson in the tenth position for all-time diamond certifications. He has also won 24 Grammy awards.