Kanye West performed at New York Fashion Week and addressed criticism of his Yeezy Season 4 collection.
The rapper made an appearance at the Harper’s Bazaar ICONS party hosted by Carine Roitfeld at the Plaza Hotel.
West and his wife Kim Kardashian West are the cover stars of the magazine’s September ICONS issue and were guests of honour at the party.
West performed tracks ‘Famous’, ‘All Of The Lights’ and ‘Runaway’ for the crowd, before finishing his set with a short speech addressing the criticism of his new collection of clothes, Yeezy Season 4.
TGIF (U) @kanyewest #BazaarIcons pic.twitter.com/65J7qAbsMd
— Ali Puliti (@APuliti) September 10, 2016
King #Kanye #BazaarIcons #nyfw ✨stick w the music. pic.twitter.com/YREalaJHQl
— Alexandra Steigrad (@AlexSteigrad) September 10, 2016
“At the beginning of this performance I tried my best to not try. No, I tried to listen to all the reports and shit and I tried my best to stop trying,” he began.
“But I just couldn’t do it! I couldn’t stop! No matter what they write, I just couldn’t stop! I appreciate y’all going on this journey for me. I appreciate all the years y’all put up with me learning in front of you and listening to the music at the same time.
“I appreciate the moment when Carine [Roitfeld] put her friend on the cover — no, not this moment — I’m talking about when she put Tom Ford on the cover. And all you motherfuckers were like, ‘Oh, Carine (is) over!’ She’s a motherfucking icon, though. There’s only one Carine.”
West then dropped the mic and walked off stage. Watch the speech below, via Stereogum.
Kanye giving himself a pep talk about #YeezySeason4 in the middle of Power. Chin up, Ye. pic.twitter.com/ewynSIQsmK
— Victor Nguyen-Long (@VNL) September 9, 2016