More than 24 hours after they went on sale, there are still seats left on Wednesday for the Sunday event in Paris by Kanye West, American rap heavyweight escorted by controversies and now called “Ye”.
On the website of its French show producer, more than 780 tickets for Bercy (Accor Arena) had not found a buyer on Wednesday afternoon.
While this is not significant for a venue with a configuration of around 20,000 seats, other artists of an equivalent caliber are used to filling venues in a few minutes.
Like Beyoncé or DJ Snake, who sold out the 80,000 seats at the Stade de France in a few minutes.
Several factors can explain this poor performance of the American rapper.
Kanye West is undoubtedly paying for a late announcement - Saturday on his networks - and the price of tickets, from 90.50 euros (category sold out) to 200.50 euros.
The concept, a “Listening Experience”, or a “unique immersive experience in the presence of the artist”, and not a concert, may also have confused fans.
pic.twitter.com/rIPo0W1mVN
— ye (@kanyewest) February 18, 2024
In addition to Paris, this mini-tour, several dates of which have already taken place in the United States, must first pass through Italy, at the Milan Forum on Thursday and at the Bologna Unipol Arena on Saturday.
An album already marked by controversies
The event is designed around his latest album “Vultures 1”, available since February 9, after many postponements.
Ranked at the top of the American charts, this record was developed with his compatriot Ty Dolla $ign.
And has its share of controversy.
The estate of Donna Summer, a disco star who died in 2012, accuses the artist of having sampled her hit “I feel love” without authorization.
The title in question, “Good (don't die)”, is now deleted from Spotify and cannot be listened to on this platform.
He was also tackled on social networks by Ozzy Osbourne, leader of Black Sabbath, the founding group of metal.
The rocker denounces the unauthorized broadcast of a sample of “Iron Man”, one of his emblematic songs, during a promotional event in Chicago at the beginning of February.
Ozzy Osbourne explains that he refused this sample to Kanye West because it is “anti-Semitic”.
At the end of December, the American rapper apologized to the Jewish community, a year after anti-Semitic remarks which caused outrage and ended some of his commercial contracts.
“Ye” says he wants to work on the issue and “learn from this experience to have more sensitivity and understanding in the future.”
A statement welcomed with caution by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a major American group fighting anti-Semitism.