Hip-hop and fashion icon Ye performed in China for the first time in over a decade on Sunday, leaving a trail of delighted fans and simmering controversy in his wake.

The musician, formerly known as Kanye West, took to the stage in front of 42,000 fans at the Wuyuan River Sports Stadium in the southern island province of Hainan, in a gig that coincided with China’s Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Local authorities in Hainan have announced that Ye will perform another show later this month.

Ye’s return to China has amazed music fans across the country. Performances by Western stars have been rare in recent years. And Ye is a controversial figure. Local authorities in Hainan reportedly received a string of public complaints following their decision to green light the gigs, with many locals objecting to the rapper’s lyrics and past behavior.

But a few factors appear to have made the shows possible. Ye has a long history with China, having spent a year in Nanjing as a child when his mother was working in the city as an English professor, and he has expressed his love for the country in the past.

“I love China. It changed my life. It changed my perspective, it gave me such a wide perspective,” Ye told Forbes magazine in a 2020 interview.

What’s more, China is keen to promote tourism to Hainan, a tropical island often dubbed the “Chinese Hawaii.” The government has issued a slew of supportive policies to boost Hainan’s economy in recent years, such as allowing the island to develop a duty-free shopping zone.

Ye’s appearance has already provided a much-needed boost to consumption, as tens of thousands of hip-hop fans flew into Hainan from every corner of China.

The rapper’s first gig generated approximately 51 million yuan ($7.2 million) in ticket sales and boosted tourism revenues in Haikou, the provincial capital, by 373 million yuan, according to local government data.

Many of those fans weren’t delighted about having to travel all the way to Haikou for the gig. But others were more understanding. Ma Jiang, a 24-year-old who flew to Hainan from Melbourne, Australia, for the concert, said she was just happy to see Ye perform.

“Given the intense media scrutiny Kanye’s faced in recent years, hosting the event in Beijing or Shanghai would’ve come with a lot of restrictions. Haikou, in that sense, made more sense,” said Ma.

“My only complaint is that the city’s public transportation isn’t very convenient. Other than that, I didn’t feel like it was much different from Beijing or Shanghai,” Ma added.

Meanwhile, Ye’s return to China has sparked a frenzy of speculation that more international stars will soon follow, with a string of recent official statements hinting that support for international concerts is growing.

Wang Jiansheng, head of the Hainan Tourism Development Research Association, told local media that Ye’s performance will significantly enhance Haikou’s international reputation and appeal. He added that more internationally renowned artists will perform in Haikou in the future.

Several government advisers in Shanghai also recently called for local officials to loosen concert approval processes to allow stars like Taylor Swift to perform in the city.

Ye’s appearance in Hainan has dominated Chinese social media in recent days, with fans styling the concert as a homecoming for the American star. Many were particularly touched by the rapper’s decision to bring his entire family onstage during the show.

“The scene that left the deepest impression on me was when Kanye’s children came on stage one by one,” said Pengpeng, a 23-year-old longtime Ye fan, who gave only a pseudonym for privacy reasons. “When he lifted up Chicago, I was really moved by the sense of family. It touched me deeply.”

“I feel he cares about China,” said Miao Suan, a 23-year-old fan from the southern city of Fuzhou, who noted that Ye performed in a T-shirt bearing the Chinese characters for “I told you so.”

“What surprised me even more was the atmosphere. Despite not everyone being a native English speaker, the crowd sang along confidently,” added Miao.

(Header image: Kanye West performs during the concert in Haikou, Hainan province, Sept. 15, 2024. VCG)