Kanye West performs in Istanbul for first time before mammoth crowd of 118,000

World-renowned rapper Kanye West performed in Istanbul for the first time on Saturday, drawing a mammoth crowd of some 118,000 fans to Ataturk Olympic Stadium in one of the year’s biggest music events.

The concert, organized in cooperation with NTRteam, attracted thousands of visitors from Türkiye as well as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Poland, and countries across the Middle East.

The stadium reached capacity hours before the show as fans gathered to watch the Grammy-winning artist’s long-awaited debut performance in Türkiye.

West opened the concert with his song Father and closed the nearly two-hour set with Stronger.

Performing atop a giant spherical stage, the artist delivered some of the most popular tunes from his long career, including King, Runaway, Power, Flashing Lights, Heartless, Black Skinhead, All The Love, and Homecoming.

Fans joined in throughout the performance, singing along and dancing as applause and chants echoed around the stadium.

One of the concert’s most striking features was its stage design, inspired by West’s performances at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. A massive hemispherical structure erected at the center of the venue was transformed into a giant globe through high-resolution projection technology.

The show was accompanied by elaborate lighting displays, smoke effects, and synchronized visuals. Thousands of spectators illuminated the stadium with their cellphone flashlights, creating a sea of lights across the stands and field.

Among the local celebrities attending the concert were actors Sukru Ozyildiz, Alina Boz, Hazar Ergüçlü, Yasemin Allen, Afra Saracoglu and Asli Tandogan, as well as singers Elif Buse Dogan and Burak Kut.

The concert was also streamed live on West’s official YouTube channel, attracting millions of viewers within minutes.