Rapper Kanye West announced he will present an opera, Nebuchadnezzar, November 24 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The production, announced via Twitter, will be directed by Italian performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, with additional music by West’s Sunday Service Collective, Peter Collins, and Infinities Song.
The story follows the biblical tale of a Babylonian king driven mad over seven years, as detailed in the Book of Daniel. The Grammy-winning artist referenced the figure to Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1 in an interview recently, saying, “[God] is saying, let me take this Nebuchadnezzar-type character. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, and he looked at his entire kingdom and said, ‘I did this.’ I stood on the top of the mountain talking about Yeezus, saying, ‘I’m a God,’ I had a guy dressed as Jesus.”
The work is mounted at a busy time for the performer—West has been touring the country offering Sunday services and dropped his latest album in October, Jesus is King, the release of which was accompanied by an filmed concert experience in IMAX.
Tickets for the event go on sale at 1 PM ET November 18 on Ticketmaster.
Invite artwork by Nick Knight pic.twitter.com/U7IBqe1Gxk
— ye (@kanyewest) November 17, 2019