Kanye West reportedly declined a $4.5 million offer to play just nine concerts in Las Vegas. The invitation would allegedly have made him the highest-paid musical act in Las Vegas, ahead of stars like Britney Spears and Céline Dion.
The Planet Hollywood hotel asked West to play three concerts a week for three weeks, according to a report by TMZ, performing at its Axis theatre. He would apparently have been paid $500,000 per show – substantially more than Spears, Planet Hollywood’s current headliner, who receives a reported $475,000 for each of her gigs.
It’s not clear how recently Planet Hollywood approached West with this offer: whether West was still promoting his album Yeezus or, as he is now, preparing to release its follow-up. The MC actually played in Vegas on 24 October; he has no further scheduled tour dates.
Meanwhile, one of West’s Yeezus collaborators has released a demo recording of the album’s opening track. Benjamin Bronfman produced the original version of New Slaves, using the title Cruel Cold Winter. “[Kanye] kept saying, ‘Just make it hot, make it really dope,’” Bronfman told Rolling Stone, which has posted the demo for listening. “He didn’t really get into specifics, which is funny – he’s the type of person who will get really specific in person, but not on the phone.”
Bronfman only learned that West had used part of his track before a Yeezus listening party in New York. “I got word, like, ‘One of your tracks made it. It’s ill. Come to the show, we’ll talk about it there,’” he said.
Bronfman, who is MIA’s former fiance, now hopes to contribute material to West’s next LP.
