Kanye West is to appear as the musical guest when the new series of ‘Saturday Night Live’ kicks off this weekend, though it’s now been revealed he was a last-minute replacement for another artist.
The rapper is anticipated to perform tracks from his new album ‘Yandhi’, his second collection of new material this year, while Adam Driver will take on presenting duties.
However, ‘SNL’ boss Lorne Michaels has now revealed that Kanye was brought in to replace Ariana Grande, who had initially been down to perform.
Speaking on James Andrew Miller’s ‘Origins’ podcast, Lorne told the host that Kanye had “stepped up” when Ariana announced she would not be performing on ‘SNL’ for “emotional reasons”.
Ariana announced earlier this month that she was taking some time out from the spotlight, in order to “mend and heal” after the Manchester terror attack at her concert last year and, more recently, the death of her ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller.
Her representative said in a statement: “She will be staying close to home and using this period to spend time with her loved ones and work on new music without deadline. She thanks her fans for their understanding.”
Meanwhile, it sounds like Kanye’s upcoming album will be his most controversial to date, with contributions from divisive rap figures 6ix9ine and the late XXXTentacion, and lyrics reported by The Fader to reference his controversial comments about slavery.
Earlier this year, Kanye released his album ‘Ye’, on which he rapped more candidly than ever before about his mental health and relationship with wife Kim Kardashian West.