Kanye West Brings 'Highlights' & 'Ultralight Beam' To 'Saturday Night Live'


©2016/Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC
Photo Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC

After over a year of teases, leaked tracks, name changes and last-minute additions, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo is finally upon us. Like anything Kanye, the set didn't come without its controversy, with some calling out the misogynistic lyrics and a possible reigniting of his beef with pop startlet Taylor Swift after name-checking her in a rather unflattering way on the track "Famous." But over the weekend, it was nothing but a celebration for Yeezy, one that he took to the stage of Saturday Night Live.

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Standing in front of a screen streaming pixelated video of clouds (perhaps from his Only One video game featuring his mother?), his performance "Highlights" seemed like it would be a typical Kanye SNL performance. That is until a bizarre lineup of famous friends joined him on stage. The song's featured guest Young Thug was a no-brainer, as was the song's co-writer The-Dream. But then Yeezy brought up R&B crooner El Debarge, rapper A$AP Bari and vocal powerhouse Kelly Price into the spotlight for an oddly spastic performance that didn't seem rehearsed in the least bit.

The same vibe continued for "Ultralight Beam." Kelly and The-Dream returned with Kanye and a choir (that oddly included Fonzworth Bentley front and center) as Yeezy seemed to get introspective for the audience. The choir did a few odd dances during the performance, which featured another powerful vocal from Kelly, before featured guest Chance the Rapper took the stage and everybody got hype. However, things went back to bizzarro land when gospel great Kirk Franklin arrived on stage to say a prayer while Kanye fell on the ground with his arms outstretched like Jesus on the cross. Ummm, alright then.

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At this point, we're not sure if we're witnessing artistic genius in the making or an artist undergoing a full-on nervous breakdown. We'll let you be the judge when you view Yeezy's two performances below. And in case you couldn't catch the gibberish Ye said after the performance, The Life of Pablo is available on TIDAL now.


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