In a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal, the artist now known as Ye writes, “I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness.”
The buzziest band of 2025 played “Trinidad” and “Au Pays du Cocaine” on Saturday night and now the internet’s loudest cranks are comparing their performance to Fear’s in 1981.
Watching the fingerstyle guitarist perform in a small Iowa City theater reaffirmed my belief in music’s ability to conjure new possibilities from ubiquitous sources.