West – whose set started 90 minutes behind schedule – performed for only 15 minutes before turning his levitating stage into a soapbox, which he used to rail against Beyoncé, Jay Z, Mark Zuckerberg, Google and Hillary Clinton.
West's rant traveled from complaining about radio playlists to the most recent MTV Video Music Awards, where Beyoncé delivered a medley of Lemonade tracks, a performance that West said was presented on one condition:
"Beyoncé, I was hurt because I heard that you said you wouldn’t perform unless you won Video of the Year over me and over 'Hotline Bling,'" West said. "Now don't go dissing Beyoncé, she's great. Taylor Swift is great. We are all great people. We are all equal. But sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are just to win. Fuck winning, fuck looking cool. Fuck looking cool. Fuck being cool. Fuck all that, bruh."
West added of his Watch the Throne partner Jay Z, "I've been sent here to give y'all my truth even at the risk of my own life, my own success, my own career. Jay Z—call me, bruh. You still ain't called me. Jay Z, I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head. Please call me. Talk to me like a man." West has previously lamented that Jay Z never called him following the Kim Kardashian robbery in Paris.
West, who was "on my Trump shit tonight," circuitously brought the conversation to politics and radio and fake news.
"The Saint Pablo tour is more relevant than radio and if y'all keep following old models, your ass is going to be Hillary Clinton. You might not like it, but they gotta hear it. I ain't here to massage you with a fake truth, telling you that Hillary gon' win over and over and over and then you wake up [and] you still can't believe it! You know why? Because you was lied to by Google. You was lied to by Mark Zuckerberg."
After the long rant, West told the press to "get ready to write your passive-aggressive, LeBron James, racist comments. Season 4, racist comments. Get ready to have a field day, press. Get ready, get ready. Because the show's over," and promptly ended the show after four songs.
While West may have started a fresh beef with Jay Z and Beyoncé, the Sacramento show found the rapper reconciling with Kid Cudi, who previously engaged in a war of words with West before checking into a rehab facility. During West's brief pre-rant set, the two performed "Waves" and "Father Stretch My Hand, Pt. 1" together.
"You know who the greatest of all of us? Who do y'all think?," West asked the crowd during his rant, promptly shouts of "Kanye!" "Nope. Kid motherfucking Cudi."
West performs Sunday night at Los Angeles' Forum.
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