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Kanye West has been known to make some odd choices over the years. This 42-year-old father of four and rap mogul has a successful clothing line, numerous wildly popular tracks, and even a best-selling gospel album.
And now? Not one, but two operas based around the bible.
He, along with actors and a full choir, performed the opera in Miami on Sunday, December 8, and it was…wild. The highlight of the performance? West, along with most of the actors and all of the choirs, were painted head-to-toe in sparkling silver paint.
Seriously. We can’t make this up.
Mary, West’s second opera, is based around the telling of Jesus Christ’s birth. His first opera, Nebuchadnezzar, opened last month at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. We’re impressed with the back-to-back opera openings, but wonder how much time West is putting into these projects.
After all, he just released his newest album, Jesus Is King.
Doors were set to open at the Miami Marine Arena at 1:30pm, but didn’t open until closer to 2. The show was then set to start by 3, but really didn’t happen until nearly 4pm. There is no word on why there was a delay.
West held the opera on a giant floating barge, so the actors had to be painted, dressed, and prepared before loading themselves onto a boat to get to the stage. That is a lot of prep, especially for an event that was only announced days before.
Unlike Kanye’s first opera, which he narrated from off-stage, Ye was featured front and center in Mary. He painted himself head-to-toe in silver, read bible verses, and performed with the choir.
Mary featured a full silver choir and a live musical arrangement, with the reimagining of several classic Christian holiday tunes, like “O Holy Night” and “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” West also slid some of his classic songs in there, like “Power” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”
The opera lasted about an hour, and the actors and choir were again shuttled off the stage via boat.
This marked the last day of Miami’s Art Week, and despite only having about 72 hours’ notice that this would be happening, the stand was packed with fans. Several apparently sported “Kanye 2020” tank tops.
Kanye is getting a lot of harassment about his silver look, which some have compared to the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.
I see you Mr West #KanyeWestSundayService pic.twitter.com/EG48TS03qF
— BecomeJoshua (@BecomeJoshua) December 9, 2019
I, personally, think that Kanye is trying to channel his inner superhero, and found The Silver Surfer the most accessible of them all. I would have assumed before this he was more of a Batman type, especially with his purchase of thousands of acres of land in Wyoming for nearly $15 million.
Please Kanye I am begging you, I’m tired and defending you is hard enough as it is. pic.twitter.com/OY5wUIomLx
— Sam Easton (@_sameaston) December 9, 2019
Others are making jokes about the Sunday Service being a “cult,” and…well, after watching Kanye’s crew literally paint themselves silver and talk religion to us, we get their point.
https://twitter.com/pmm526/status/1203860535533432837
We’re not suggesting that whatever Kanye is doing isn’t working for him, because it clearly is. He’s getting a ton of press, making a bunch of money, and apparently doing what he loves.
But…yikes. That’s a look, is all we’re going to say. Someone should maybe check in on Kanye, see where his mental state is and how he’s coping with life. Something isn’t right here.
