When news of Coachella adding Kanye West’s (now infamous) Sunday Service’s set to the Coachella lineup, I was ecstatic and couldn’t contain my joy. However, there was an exception: West’s Sunday Service was only going to perform for Weekend 2. As a huge Kanye West fan, I was not pleased, seeing that I had a ticket for the first weekend. The addition of West’s set came as a surprise – especially because West was supposed to headline the festival this year, but decided not to as it was said that Coachella allegedly refused to accomodate to West’s creative demands for his stage design.
With that being said, I patiently waited to watch the livestream of Sunday Service this Easter. It’s evident that many, like myself, were excited to watch the raw artistic talent of West unravel in front of their very eyes – be it online or in person.
(Image source: Rozette Rago for The New York Times)
It was flawless. West performed at an open hill near the vicinity of the festival itself. His set included a sermon by DMX and a premiere of his new song “Water” (with Ty Dolla $ign), rumored to be off his upcoming and very delayed album Yandhi. Those who joined Ye during his set included Chance The Rapper in “Ultralight Beams”, Teyana Taylor in “Never Would Have Made It”, and Kid Cudi. When performing “Jesus Walks”, West publicly had an emotional moment and broke down, of which DMX, Chance The Rapper and Kid Cudi were spotted by his side to comfort him.
Also making headlines is West’s choice to sell an exclusive clothing line, specific to the Sunday Service brand. In true Yeezy fashion (no pun intended), the prices of the items were nowhere close to cheap. A pair of socks were going for $50, t-shirts for $170, and sweaters from $165 to $225. It comes as no surprise then that many voiced their opinions on the hefty price tags across the various social media platforms. This didn’t stop many Coachella go-ers from joining the very-long bee line for West’s merchandise though,
(Image source: Twitter/@BoroInc)
(Image source: Twitter/@BoroInc)
Coachella boasts of an attendance of approximately 100,000 festival go-ers, and an estimated 50,000 people showed up to West’s set – which, by the way, was at 9 in the morning. Even though West has been such a controversial figure in the past couple of years, it looks like people can’t shy away from the opportunity to witness West in action, as I’m sure we can all agree that he is, after all, a musical genius.