Crowds of up to 4000 gather on the streets outside the venue where Kanye West had announced a surprise gig. Photo/Instagram
Crowds of up to 4000 gather on the streets outside the venue where Kanye West had announced a surprise gig. Photo/Instagram
The streets of New York City's East Village descended into a near-riot on Sunday night when Kanye West fans flocked to the streets in a desperate attempt to get into the rapper's surprise gig.
West announced the last-minute show on Twitter just after 1am, due to be held at the city's famed Webster Hall following the cancellation of his Governors Ball headlining set.
Within less than an hour, the intimate performance was sold out.
Total chaos ensued as an estimated 4000 people hit the streets in the East Village in the early hours of the morning, all chanting the rapper's name.
"F*** Governors Ball" and "F*** Donald Trump" chants also rang out, while some climbed scaffolding, bins and even parked cars in an attempt to get closer to the venue.
But disappointed fans didn't miss out entirely - Yeezy made a special appearance, being hustled through the crowd by his security guards and into his waiting SUV.
In royal fashion, the Famous rapper then began circling the venue, waving to the throngs through his sunroof and shaking hands with a few people as he was chased down the street.
Prior to the scramble, Kim Kardashian captured a video of her husband on the phone, commanding one of his minions to "call the mayor and shut down the block about four streets and put up screens so they can have a party outside. I know it's sold out already."
In another Snapchat video posted afterwards, Kardashian told her followers, "Alright guys, we're in bed. We tried, he tried so hard, but it was just bigger. The cops just really wouldn't allow it."
And on Instagram, she wrote: "Last night was crazy! Kanye wished he could have performed last night and really tried so hard but it was ultimately out of his control! He has the best fans in the whole world, thank you all for coming out at 2am. Promise he will make up this pop up show!"
Day three of the sold-out music festival on Randall's Island was cancelled on Sunday morning due to wet weather and eager Kanye fans waited it out all day to see if he would announce a surprise gig.
Earlier in the night, Yeezy showed up at the Hot 97 Summer Jam in Jersey City and performed a few songs, including his new single, Champions.
Many of the artists scheduled to perform on day three scrambled to arrange pop-up shows in the wake of Governors Ball being cancelled. Prophets of Rage, Death Cab for Cutie, Joey Bada$$, Eagles of Death Metal, Courtney Barnett, Two Door Cinema Club, Cold War Kids and more were all on Sunday's bill.
But only one man could shut down the streets of New York City.
No one else can do this. Kanye West transcend hip hop man shutting everything down at 2 on a Monday morning
