Met Gala and Venice Biennale prep; underground rap streaming leaderboard; how LV makes their bags; and more
Welcome Digest [5.4.26]
Welcome To May 4th
Today’s Important Headlines
Met Gala prep: what you need to know
Here’s what you should know ahead of tonight’s “Costume Art” themed Met Gala: the dress code is “Fashion Is Art”; Jeff Bezos’s involvement has led critics to dub it “The Bezos Ball,” and there are protests planned; the guest list is a talking point: figures like Ye, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice are not expected to attend, while Beyoncé will appear after a decade’s absence, serving as a co-chair alongside Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams, fueling fan speculation about a potential ACT III announcement; the theme centers on costume as art, with the accompanying exhibition blending fashion with historical works, with nonstandard mannequins being an initial focal point of the exhibit; ticket prices have climbed to $100,000, reinforcing that the gala is shifting away from being a fashion institution toward a tech wealth and clout spectacle.
New underground rap streaming numbers leaderboard
Here’s a check in on the underground rap hierarchy. Osamason continues to dominate streaming numbers despite not releasing music in six months. Nine Vicious trailing closely behind comes as no surprise, but it’s notable that Che is outperforming Nettspend, and even more surprising that Jaydes is pulling in massive streams without dropping since 2024. It also highlights how the definition of “underground” is shifting, as all of these artists are now pulling tens of millions of monthly streams.
Venice Biennale 2026 exhibits you shouldn’t miss
The 61st Venice Biennale opens on May 9th; here’s an initial preview of some of the exhibitions we’re keeping an eye on. Li Yi-Fan’s Screen Melancholy video installation; Dries Van Noten’s The Only True Protest is Beauty cathedral installation; Marina Abramović’s Transforming Energy; Michael Armitage’s The Promise of Change; and Natasha Tontey’s The Phantom Combatants.
Louis Vuitton revealed its 240-step bag-making process
Louis Vuitton has unveiled an inside look at the making of the Speedy P9, a reworked version of its classic 1930 Speedy introduced under Pharrell Williams’s creative direction. Crafted from LV Buttersoft calfskin and assembled through an intensive 10-hour multi-stage process involving hundreds of steps and dozens of specialized tools, the construction is exceptionally detailed. Named after Paris’s Pont-Neuf bridge, the bag arrives in multiple sizes and an array of colorways.
Inside Edward Skeletrix’s chaotic exhibition this weekend
The exhibition, titled “Commerce of Desire,” unfolded across several rooms, each strewn with stock portrait images scattered across the floor. One space featured a tapestry of an elderly woman in tears, surrounded by teapots and picket fences, while a performance artist moved erratically to an instrumental from Selected Ambient Works by Aphex Twin. In another, a man stood inside a transparent box as onlookers poured water over it and prodded him through an opening with a long stick. Elsewhere, four bridesmaids knelt in prayer before a large mural of themselves, while performers in latex gimp suits circled the room. The final space presented an opera singer performing along a narrow, elevated ledge. There were also reports of a fight breaking out among the performers. For £120, attendees could meet Skeletrix himself, who was masked.
Headline curation and words by Mikail Haroon (@mvkail)
Moodboard 065
Today’s inspiration supplement. Click through to view.
From The Archive
An extra piece of content from the Welcome Archive for Magazine subscribers only.
A collection of ASCII gun art:
︻┳デ═—
̸̳/̸͆̿͞ ̎̎̕ ͆̿͞။͆̚ ̿`**
▄︻̸/̸̅̅╦══- - - ▸҉ ҉
̸̎͞/̄͆̅ ̎ ι̚ ̈ ̄
︻╦╤───*
︻┳デ═—
̸͆̿͞ ̄̿̄͞ ̿̅͞ ̿̅͞ ̄̚
/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿
─̸̳/̸͆̿͞ ̎̎̕ ͆̿͞။͆̚ ̿`**
/̵͇̿̿/̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿