Travis Scott celebrated his Billboard 200-topping album Utopia on Monday (Aug. 7) with a performance at Rome’s Circus Maximus, and the show featured a rare onstage appearance by Kanye West.
“There is no Utopia without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West. There is no Rome without Kanye West. Make some noise for Ye,” Scott told the crowd before Ye took the stage, according to Pitchfork. The duo performed their collaboration, “Praise God,” off Ye’s Donda album.
The performance marks Ye’s first public performance since a string of controversies, from publicly posting violent remarks about Kim Kardashian’s now ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson to vocalizing antisemitic and racist rhetoric on multiple occasions.
Throughout the set, Scott performed a number of tracks off Utopia, including his The Weeknd and Bad Bunny team-up “K-Pop,” as well as his Beyoncé and Justin Vernon-featuring “Delresto (Echoes).” He also performed some pre-Utopia hits including “Highest in the Room” and “Butterfly Effect.”
Circus Maximus served as Scott’s replacement show for his canceled Pyramids of Giza concert in Egypt. Live Nation Middle East tweeted their reasoning for the cancellation, citing “complex production issues,” while Scott responded to fans seeking a further explanation. “Egypt in the pyramids will happen but due to demand and detail logistics they just need a bit a time to set lay on lands. I will keep up posted on a date which will be soon love you alllll,” he wrote on Twitter.
Utopia blasted in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 12), marking the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album and the largest for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release. The project bows with 496,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 3, according to Luminate.
