Kanye West Announces '808s & Heartbreak' 2009 World Tour

by Jarrett Martineau | March 24, 2009 at 10:35 am

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Everybody's favourite Auto-Tune'd rapping megalomaniac, Kanye West, has proudly announced that he will be heading out on a 2009 world tour in support of his latest album of hip-pop melancholy "808s & Heartbreak".

Yeezy will begin his global adventures with a series of European tour dates beginning this summer.

But don't expect just any old concert tour. For West, the "glory" of being on stage is enough motivation to concoct an elaborately over-the-top pop cultural event that will undoubtedly outshine the music being performed.

And that's all part of the plan.

Kanye doesn't even see himself as a musician any more — the erstwhile sneaker maker now sees himself "more as a designer" than a rapper — and see his album as "a fashion show".

He says he considers "808s" as much a fashion project as those $400-plus Louis Vuitton sneakers he recently crafted.

"The subject matter was real life. The medium was melody," West said. "And the format was very similar to the way people would organize a fashion show, moreso than an album. And I felt like this was my season. ... I deliver my music more as a designer than a producer now."

Of course, one could see this highly-crafted public pop art performance as something of a well-directed puppet show and, well, you wouldn't be far off.

After all, Kanye has enlisted the talents of both indie-famous director Spike Jonze and muppet-makers The Jim Henson Company to craft the look and feel of his forthcoming tour.

Official tour dates have yet to be announced, however, West has been booked to follow in Jay-Z's footsteps when he headlines the Wireless Festival this summer.

Kanye will take the stage on Sunday, July 5th in London, England "to establish Hip-Hop’s place in Hyde Park."

Rapper Kanye West is to top the bill at the Wireless Festival in July, it has been announced.
The Stronger star will conclude the two-day event on Sunday July 5th, organisers have confirmed, a year after his mentor Jay-Z performed at the Hyde Park festival.

A Wireless statement said the Brit winner's appearance would "make this show undoubtedly one of the finest performances seen in Hyde Park".

Tickets for the event go on sale Friday, March 27th at 09:00am GMT.

NowPublic will be updating this post as more Kanye West tour dates are announced.

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