Kanye West Attempts To Hold Surprise 2AM Concert In NYC, Gets Shut Down

After making a surprise appearance at Summer Jam, Kanye West wants to hold a birthday concert at 2AM in lieu of his cancelled Gov Ball performance.

BYAngus Walker
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UPDATE (06/06/2016 | 2:45AM): The streets in front of Webster Hall awaiting Kanye West's 2AM pop-up concert were so crowded and perhaps disorderly that the venue had to call of the show. Envoys of vehicles attempted to move through the densely packed mass of hopeful concertgoers, including one car carrying Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Apparently once the show was called off, Kanye still tried to keep the party going in the streets, even "suggesting to perform on top of a truck." It seems like police eventually had to disperse the crowds, and unfortunately, no music was performed. Still, it was a noble effort. Check out footage and updates from the madness via TeamKanyeDaily and FADER. 

UPDATE (06/06/2016 | 12:55AM): 2 Chainz has revealed that a GOOD Music show is set to go down at Webster Hall in the East Village tonight at 2AM. Watch him announce the late-night show below. 

Amazingly, the show is already sold out. Kim Kardashian just Snapchatted a video of Kanye on the phone with an unnamed NYC official, who he told to call Mayor Bill de Blasio and ask him to shut off the blocks surrounding Webster Hall so those who don't get into the venue can have a massive street party, supplied with multiple screens live streaming the performance inside. Watch him make the call below. "Call the mayor and shut down a block of about four streets," he says calmly, "So they can have a party outside. I know it's sold-out already." 

Original text below:

After the cancellation of his festival-closing set at Governors Ball, Kanye West quickly crossed into New Jersey to join his GOOD Music labelmates at HOT 97's Summer Jam, which itself was plagued by today's inclement weather, as the Festival Stage was cancelled and the Stadium Stage didn't get going until almost 10PM. Things got off to a hot start, though, as GOOD Music took the stage after a quick warm-up set from New Yorkers Maino, 2Milly, and Uncle Murda. Though the bill originally read "GOOD MUSIC with Big Sean and Pusha T," Kanye entered the stage with his labelmates, as did Desiigner, Travi$ Scott, and honorary GOOD member 2 Chainz.

The GOOD crew dropped a slew of its collab anthems, including "Mercy" and the brand new "Champions," the first single off Cruel Winter

After Summer Jam, Kanye is still intent in delivering a show in NYC in honor of his latest album, The Life of Pablo. It is his birthday, after all, and he and his GOOD friends (and wifey) celebrated backstage at Summer Jam with a custom Pablo cake.

Virgil Abloh, Kanye's creative director, went on Instagram to share a picture that showed him going over GOOD Music's planned Summer Jam setlist backstage. In the original caption of the post (which has since been removed -- see above), Abloh wrote, "we're doing PABLO at 2am in Manhattan. sorting out where now." With the edited caption, it's unclear if Ye is still hell-bent on setting up an impromptu show at 2AM. Knowing NYC venues, it'll be a tall task. Regardless, adventurous New Yorkers should stay tuned for a possible announcement, as a surprise Kanye birthday show in the wee hours of Sunday morning is certainly worth ruining tomorrow's workday for. 


Kanye West

Kanye West Attempts To Hold Surprise 2AM Concert In NYC, Gets Shut Down
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About The Author
<b>Feature &amp; News Contributor</b> Brooklyn via Toronto writer and music enthusiast. Angus writes reviews, features, and lists for HNHH. While hip-hop is his muse, Angus also puts in work at an experimental dance label. In the evenings, he winds down to dub techno and Donna Summer.