Skip to Content

Kanye West took the stage Sunday night during the 2013 VMA’s at Barclays Center to perform his song ‘Blood On The Leaves.’

Auto-tuned to the hilt and minimally staged with low lighting, many viewers were likely looking for a way to fast forward the performance.

Kanye danced in silhouette in front of a forested backdrop. Unfortunately, there was an interesting story tied to the stark image that didn’t come to light until after the rapper had ended his performance.

The image he used on the set was captured by director and photographer Steve McQueen and is titled “Lynching Tree.”

West detailed the significant history of the photo on his website last night and shared a link on Twitter. He explained that the tree in the photograph is in New Orleans, and was where blacks were once hanged and then buried in the ground surrounding the tree.

There was at least one person who seriously loved Kanye’s performance — his baby mama Kim Kardashian. She showed a little bias with this tweet:

Now that you know the back story, check it out with a fresh perspective:

Photo Credit: Video Screen Grabs, Twitter-Kanye West