Ye Dedicates ‘I Wonder’ Performance in South Korea to Drake
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign took over South Korea’s Goyang Stadium for a Vultures 2 listening party on Friday (Aug. 23), and West gave the thousands of Korean fans in attendance a special treat with a solo set spanning his entire discography.
Yeezy even picked up the mic and rapped along to his greatest-hits medley, which boasted more than 70 tracks in total and featured everything from “Stronger” to “Runaway” and “Famous.”
At various points, Ye was prefacing his anthems with some shout-outs, and his on-and-off enemy Drake was on the receiving end of one ahead of Graduation‘s “I Wonder.”
“This one for Drake. This one for Ian Connor,” Ye said. Connor is a fashion designer who has faced a myriad of sexual assault allegations.
Some thought West was trolling Drake — since they don’t appear to be on good terms, but Drizzy is actually a huge fan of the poignant 2007 track. The 6 God posted lyrics quoting “I Wonder” alongside a photo with Ye following their 2021 Larry Hoover Benefit Concert at the L.A. Coliseum.
Jay-Z and some of his Roc-A-Fella associates were on the receiving end of a shout-out while West took it back to the 2000s for “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.”
“This for Hov right here,” he saluted his Watch the Throne partner with the Late Registration instrumental playing. “This for Dame. Everybody put your diamonds in the sky one time. This for [Kareem Burke] Biggs. This for [Kyambo Joshua] Hip-Hop, this for Gee Roberson, this for Lenny S, this for Beanie Sigel, this for Memphis Bleek.”
West wasn’t going to leave without taking a few shots at his former partner Adidas. He had the 40,000 in the audience join him in a “F— Adidas” chant before moving into his rebellious “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” banger. The Graduation track reached No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Ay hold on, hold on. Korea, y’all gotta help me with this. Say f— Adidas,” he said before repeating as the crowd’s chants got louder. “Don’t play with me!”
The Chicago-bred rapper seemed to be more inspired to pick up the mic and rap along to his catalog rather than the traditional Vultures listening experiences which see Ye and Ty Dolla $ign play the recorded versions of tracks over the venue’s speaker. “Korea, this is Yeezy. I love you,” he said to put a bow on his first show in the country in 15 years.
The Vultures duo was set to remain in Asia and perform in Taiwan over the weekend, but the performance has been canceled for reasons that remain unknown. Yeezy Chief of Staff Eric Cui claimed it was “out of their control.” Vultures 2 arrived Aug. 3 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, with 107,000 album units sold in the first week.
Watch the entire concert below.
Michael Saponara
Billboard
