The artist formerly known as Kanye West reached all the way back to The College Dropout during the first of two shows at California’s SoFi Stadium this week.
Wednesday night’s performance opened with Ye standing atop a dome structure designed to resemble an Earth-like planet in perpetual spin, with the Bully opener “King” serving as the set’s kickoff. Additional Bully tracks then followed in sequential order—“This a Must,” “Father” (sans Travis Scott), and “All the Love” (with an extended André Troutman-led outro)—before Ye started pulling from elsewhere in his catalog.
Bully’s release at the tail end of last month came two months after Ye took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal in which he spoke at length about his struggles with bipolar disorder and the effects of a car crash 25 years prior that he says left him with damage to the right frontal lobe of his brain. This facet of the crash’s impact, Ye said, was not “properly diagnosed” until 2023.
In the same statement, Ye apologized to both the Jewish and Black communities, as well as affirmed he is “not a Nazi or an antisemite,” despite past remarks.
“In early 2025, I fell into a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid, and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life,” Ye wrote at the time. “As the situation became increasingly unsustainable, there were times I didn’t want to be here anymore. Having bipolar disorder is not a state of constant mental illness. When you go into the manic episode, you are ill at that point. When you are not in an episode, you are completely ‘normal.’ And that’s when the wreckage from the illness hits the hardest. Hitting rock bottom a few months ago, my wife [Bianca Censori] encouraged me to finally et help.”
Below, we take a look at highlights from Ye’s Los Angeles show on April 1. The SoFi shows, including a second one planned for April 3, aren’t the only high-profile appearances he’s set for in the coming months. In July, Ye is slated to headline three consecutive nights for the Wireless Festival in London, though that booking hasn’t been without controversy.
Ye performs multiple Bully tracks at SoFi Stadium show
Ye opened Wednesday’s show with a four-track Bully run, later repeating this sequence deeper into the set. La Flame, however, wasn’t on hand to perform his parts of “Father,” which recently got an official video directed by Bianca Censori.
Ye pulls out highlights from across his catalog
Instead of opting for a Bully-focused experience, Ye decided to sprinkle in hits and fan-favorites from across his catalog, even going as far back as 2004’s The College Dropout, his debut as an artist. Fans also got tracks from The Life of Pablo, Graduation, Donda, Yeezus, and more.
Ye recruits North West, Don Toliver, and André Troutman for SoFi Stadium show
While North West—Ye’s eldest child with ex-wife Kim Kardashian—isn’t featured on Bully, she has worked with her father in the past. At Wednesday’s show, she joined Ye on top of the world to perform “Talking” (from the first of two Vultures volumes) and her own solo single “Piercing on My Hand.” Don Toliver and André Troutman were also in tow, with the latter giving attendees a talkbox-fueled extended outro for Bully highlight “All the Love” and a reworking of 808s & Heartbreak opener “Say You Will.”
The Vultures era track “Everybody” makes the setlist despite still not being officially released
This Backstreet Boys-interpolating track, originally intended for Ye and Ty’s Vultures era, still hasn’t been given an official release. Still, it’s remained a live staple, including at Wednesday’s SoFi show.
