Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities have come together piece by piece, but one person who was not invited was Kanye West.
Trump’s chair of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, Tom Barrack, explains to CNN why ‘Ye was not asked to perform.
“He considers himself a friend of the President-elect, but it’s not the venue,” he says of ‘Ye’s relationship with the real estate mogul. “The venue we have for entertainment is filled out, it’s perfect, it’s going to be typically and traditionally American, and Kanye is a great guy but we just haven’t asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda.”
Yeezy publicly met with the President-elect last month to much outrage from the Hip Hop community with T.I. blasting the Chicago rapper for being part of The Donald’s “hidden agenda.”
West did perform at the “Be The Change” Youth Ball for President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. He has since had a rocky relationship with the Commander in Chief, who jokingly called Yeezy a “jackass” later that year, but then offered presidential advice when Kanye announced he was running for office in 2020.
Trump has gotten Toby Keith, The Rockettes, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Chrisette Michele to commit to participating in the inauguration activities, which started last night (January 19).
2 Chainz was reportedly asked to perform, an offer that he turned down. Flo Rida debunked rumors that he was going to participate.
If Trump needs someone “typically and traditionally American,” Azealia Banks said she’d “love to perform” for him and YG’s $4 million offer to do a rendition of “FDT” is still on the table.
Source: Hiphopdx.com