Photos of U.S. hip-hop star Kanye West dining at a Korean restaurant during his visit to Korea over the weekend to perform at a music festival, is causing a stir among his fans.
Three pictures of West, who took part in the "Summer Week&T" festival held at Naksan Beach on August 6 and 7, having a meal with his accompanying peers have been posted on various Internet community sites under the title 'Kanye West's Travels to Delicious Restaurants.'In the photos, the singer and his entourage are all seen wearing identical black suits despite the hot summer weather while sitting cross-legged on the floor with a pink dishcloth placed on their knees.
Fans who have seen the pics have left various responses such as "What hardship in mid-summer", "Everyone went color-coordinated in black suits and they are drinking cider and coke, kk" and "I can't believe a foreigner, a global star no less, is sitting cross-legged like that."
As the headliner for the hip-hop and electronic music fest "Summer Week&T," West performed live in front of some 15,000 fans on August 6. His medley of hits included the songs "Stronger", "Love Lockdown," which became popular in Korea after it was featured in a local TV commercial for a mobile phone brand, and "Touch the Sky", a duet with fellow performer Lupe Fiasco.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West first started out in the business as a record producer, working with notable musicians including Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and Jay-Z.
He released his debut album "The College Dropout" in February 2004, whose first single "Through the Wire" was inspired by his near-fatal car accident in 2002. The album sold over four million copies worldwide and was named the tenth-best album of the 2000 decade by U.S. music magazine Rolling Stone.
His second album "Late Registration," released in August 2005, produced five hit singles and was considered one of the best albums of the year by numerous publications.
Despite his reputation for being arrogant and outspoken, the success of his subsequent album releases "Graduation" (2007) and "808s & Heartbreak" (2008) stapled his position as a bona fide hip-hop star and helped him collect a total of 13 Grammy awards to date.
Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@
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