Kanye West mesmerizes Manila, goes on monologue about Taylor Swift incident

Kanye West recently confirmed that he is going on tour for his new album Life of Pablo, but the Philippines got a taste of what's in store as he performed a slew of his new songs in Manila at the Paradise International Music Festival on Saturday in Parañaque City.

West performed his controversial new song Famous, the first single off of his new album. The song opens with a line referring to pop star Taylor Swift, whose speech he interrupted at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

"You don't know. It's really overwhelming for me to perform that song for the first time and for y'all to react to it in that way. That I fought to make that the first single off of Pablo," West candidly told the crowd.

"This is the song that broke the writer's block for me coz it's something I wanted to say so bad that they told me I couldn't say. That night, when I went on stage was the beginning of the end of my life. Lady Gaga canceled the tour the next day. You know the night I'm talking about. When I just said what everybody else was thinking," West added, after his planned "Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga" was immediately canceled due to the backlash.

"So if I get in trouble for saying the truth, what's being said the rest of the time?" he said.

The outspoken rapper has since recovered, releasing four more albums since the incident. His collaboration with shoe giant Adidas has also been a hit, while his personal life has seen the addition of his second child with reality stay Kim Kardashian.

"And I had to fight everyday of my life with the whole world turned against me for saying out loud what everyone else felt. That's the job of an artist. Of a true artist. Not to be controlled by their finances. Not to be controlled by perception but only to be controlled by their truth. What you see, what you feel, and say what you [expletive] feel."

West performed snippets from 29 songs in his performance, digging deep from his 2004 debut The College Dropout to a string of songs from his new album. — RSJ, GMA News