Kanye West Pulls Out of Rolling Loud, Kid Cudi Set to Replace Him

Kanye West has once again pulled a Kanye West.

July 18, 2022

Image: Ye made a surprise appearance at Rolling Loud LA last December.

Ye made a surprise appearance at Rolling Loud LA last December. Photo by Sebastian Rodriguez/@srodriguez92 for Rolling Loud

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The artist formerly known as Kanye West has once again pulled a Kanye West.

The musical paragon and mercurial crusader will not be performing at Rolling Loud. Ye was set to headline on opening night, this Friday, July 22. His former muse and close collaborator Kid Cudi will take his place.

In a press release on Sunday, Rolling Loud maintains it did everything in its power to keep Ye on the lineup, but the 45-year-old recording artist pulled the plug at the 11th hour.

"We were looking forward to Ye headlining Rolling Loud Miami 2022. We spent months working with him and his team on the performance. Unfortunately, Ye has decided that he will no longer be performing," cofounders Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif said in a statement. "This is the first time a headliner has ever pulled off our show and though we don't take it lightly, we wish him the best. We look forward to welcoming Kid Cudi as a headliner in Miami and we can't wait to see what he has in store."

Following Ye's surprise appearance at Rolling Loud LA in December 2021, he developed a relationship with Cherif and Rolling Loud. Rolling Loud went on to help promote and build hype for Ye's Donda 2 Experience at Miami's LoanDepot Park on February 22.

The bond strengthened. Ye went as far as persuading Rolling Loud to reveal Miami's 2022 lineup ahead of its scheduled release, posting the flyer on his Instagram in March.

The turn of events freed up space for Kid Cudi to make a surprise appearance of his own, returning to Rolling Loud Miami for the first time in three years. Ye and Cudi have publicly butted heads more than once in the past, but Cudi seems excited to take on the reins, tweeting "RAGER BOY INCOMING" in reference to the announcement.

The formidable crooner already has plans to fill his setlist with fan-favorite throwbacks in light of his recently released greatest-hits album, The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1, and the re-release of his 2008 mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi.

Rolling Loud 2022. Friday, July 22, through Sunday, July 24, at Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Shula Dr., Miami Gardens; 305-943-8000; hardrockstadium.com. Tickets cost $349 to $1,414 via rollingloud.com.

Olivier Lafontant is a freelancer and former intern for Miami New Times. He's pursuing a bachelor's in digital journalism at Florida International University. He specializes in music writing and photography and got his start as a writer for South Florida Media Network in 2021.

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