By Il Post / There is considerable attention in Albania around a concert by American rapper Kanye West scheduled for Saturday, July 11, in the country's capital, Tirana. The concert was sponsored by the government led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who in April presented it as an event that would attract many foreign visitors. Many Italian fans will attend after the cancellation of the concert planned for Reggio Emilia and which was to be self-financed through ticket sales.
However, it appears that few tickets were sold and a series of other problems forced the government to allocate more than 4 million euros from the state fund usually used to deal with emergencies or natural disasters to organize the concert. Only in this way was it possible to cover the costs.
Rama has been criticized for two reasons. First, for inviting an artist who has been banned from performing in many European countries due to his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements. Second, because large anti-government protests have been ongoing in Albania for almost two months. These protests began against the construction of a luxury resort in a protected area, linked to the company of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The government had approved the project with the aim of attracting wealthy foreign tourists.
For protesters, the Kanye West concert is another example of Rama spending public money, especially that intended for national emergencies, on projects that have no long-term positive impact on the living conditions of the population, among the poorest in Europe. Rama has recently dismissed the criticism and accused his critics of hindering his plan to grow Albania's economy through tourism.
Kanye West is one of the most famous and beloved rappers of the last 20 years, but his reputation and career have long been in disarray due to his chaotic behavior and numerous controversial, racist and anti-Semitic statements. Among other things, he released a song titled "Heil Hitler". Since then, West has tried to deny his stance with a belated and failed apology, attributing his behavior to bipolar disorder. Although he is excluded from the world of show business, he still has a large following, especially among young audiences.
Over the past two years, countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Poland and Australia have cancelled his concerts or denied him entry visas. In Italy, his concert, scheduled for Reggio Emilia as part of the disastrous Hellwatt festival, was subsequently cancelled, officially because of his attitude, but in reality also because the organisation had been inadequate and the conditions for it to be held safely were not in place.
Some, like the Netherlands in early June, allowed him to perform amid much criticism, but no European government so far had been as proactive as the Albanian government in allowing him to perform.
Rama justified the funding by saying that the event was in danger of being canceled and that government intervention was necessary “to avoid embarrassing Albania.” He argued that the concert was expected to attract 25,000 foreign visitors and that it could generate 100 million euros in revenue for the local economy, an estimate considered unrealistic even by Irena Beqiraj, deputy minister of economy in Rama’s first government and now critical of his management of public finances.
Ticket sales figures have not been released, but there are strong suspicions that they were far fewer than the estimated 60,000. Among other things, in recent days, several public figures have shared announcements from organizers promising one free ticket for every 4 purchased; several local media outlets, including the news site Lapsi.al , also reported that free tickets were being distributed in Tirana. In his announcement, Rama did not respond to Kanye West's comments, but vaguely mentioned that some people had not purchased tickets for fear that the concert would be canceled. ©LAPSI.al
