“It’s a glorious occasion,” said ‘Ye. “But right now I want ya’ll to put two fingers in the air right now. I wanna dedicate this show to the lady that brought me to Chicago at age three, the first black female chair of the English department at Chicago State University, Dr. Donda Claire Ann West. I know she up there looking down right now and she helped me get through these past four years, when America turned they back on me, when the world turned they back on me for tellin’ ya’ll the motherfu—in’ truth.”
He continued, “And now I’m leading the Grammy nominations. And I just wanna thank Beyoncé and Jay-Z for standing by me in my darkest hours, and you Chicago, for standing by me in my darkest hour and giving me reason to feel like I should stay alive when the world thought I should die …”
During his Chicago show, Ye also used the stage to address his recent Album of the Year Grammy snub.
“People focus, they say, ‘You ain’t have Album of the Year or Record of the Year.’ But I figured out though, that’s my fault for dropping Watch the Throne and Dark Fantasy the same year,” he told the crowd. I should have just spaced it out a little bit more. “But don’t worry, because me and Hov gonna keep on making s***.”
Bravo to West for continuing to honor his mother’s memory as well as his friends. As always, we’re sure this isn’t the last time we’ll see ‘Ye get emotional onstage and below you can check out seven of his greatest onstage moments of ethos. –nicholas robinson
