The artist formerly known as Kanye West made his return to Mexico City on Friday (Jan. 30), kicking off the first of two planned shows at Monumental Plaza de Toros La México.
According to press notes released ahead of the back-to-back concerts, Friday’s show marked Ye’s first performance in Mexico City since he brought his Glow in the Dark Tour to the city in October 2008. Organizers are promoting the two 2026 dates — which are also being streamed — as delivering “one of the most ambitious productions in the venue’s history,” with an estimated combined attendance of over 74,000 fans.
During the set, Ye performed “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” “Power,” along with several other fan favorites. Check out some footage below. He also surprised the crowd by bringing out his daughter, North, to perform “Only One.”
Ahead of his Mexico City performances, Ye grabbed attention after purchasing a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, where he acknowledged his wife, Bianca Censori, for pushing him to “finally get help” after what he described as a months-long “manic episode” last year.
“In early 2025, I fell into a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life,” Ye wrote. “As the situation became increasingly unsustainable, there were times I didn’t want to be here anymore. Having bipolar disorder is not a state of constant mental illness. When you go into the manic episode, you are ill at that point. When you are not in an episode, you are completely ‘normal’. And that’s when the wreckage from the illness hits the hardest.”
Elsewhere in the lengthy statement, Ye reflected on his past hateful comments and actions, including his choice to sell swastika T-shirts.
“I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change,” he wrote. “It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite.”
In a follow-up email interview with Vanity Fair, published Jan. 27, Ye responded to skepticism from those unwilling to accept his latest statement at face value. He said his decision to speak publicly now “isn’t about reviving my commerciality,” adding that recent streaming numbers helped underscore his point.
A finalized version of Bully, Ye’s upcoming studio album, was once expected to drop this month, but its release has now been pushed to March 20.
Ye’s most recent official solo album, Donda, was released in 2021. Its follow-up, Donda 2, was originally planned as an exclusive project for his now-abandoned Stem Player device, although a broader streaming release of what still appears to be an unfinished version surfaced in April of last year.
Also in 2025, six years of Ye’s life were documented in the film In Whose Name?.
“When I went back into the footage to explore alternate and extended cuts, it became clear that another film was embedded within the unused material, one that I am working on now,” Ballesteros said when asked about a previously teased director’s cut.
