New Ye show; Lyrical Lemonade TV is coming; unhinged Taco Bell conference lineup; and more
Welcome Digest [3.11.26]
Welcome To March 11th
Today’s Important Headlines
Ye to perform in first solo U.S show since 2021
Within just minutes, over 1 million people joined the queue for Ye’s Los Angeles concert marking it as his first official U.S. show since the 2021 Free Larry Hoover benefit (outside of a 2024 Rolling Loud appearance). The performance follows a run of international shows in cities including Mexico City, Seoul, and Tokyo, all tied to the long-delayed rollout of his upcoming album BULLY. Billboards promoting the project have recently been spotted in Japan, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
We’re getting Lyrical Lemonade TV
Cole Bennett’s Lyrical Lemonade is partnering with Lighthouse Studios to develop a slate of recurring shows centered on music and internet culture, in the vein of a contemporary MTV. Bennett previewed the idea with a logo mockup referencing the format. The plan is to release new episodes on a consistent weekly schedule, effectively expanding the brand’s 24-million-subscriber YouTube channel into something closer to a digital TV network. It will be interesting to see which large creators they enlist to build out the programming.
Vince Staples hosted a Taco Bell conference; Yeat and Doja Cat made appearances
Taco Bell hosted the third edition of its “Live Más LIVE” event at the Hollywood Palladium, a staged new product reveal that has in past years mimicked the format of an Apple keynote, but this year was amped up into a star-studded, Grammys-style affair. Vince Staples hosted the 2026 edition, which featured appearances from Doja Cat, Yeat, Anderson Paak, and Benson Boone, along with NFL wide receiver Davante Adams. Yeat even received an iced-out Taco Bell “Bell” chain.
Comme des Garçons covered Puma Speedcats in 3D printed flowers
Previewed on the Noir Kei Ninomiya runway yesterday, the avant-garde womenswear label led by Comme des Garçons designer Kei Ninomiya is collaborating with Puma on a radically reworked pair of Speedcats. The low-profile silhouette, one of 2025’s most popular sneakers, receives an experimental update here, covered in a gradient of densely packed 3D-printed flowers that nearly obscure the shoe entirely. The collaboration appears to be releasing in three colorways: light pink and red, all black, and a green-tinted white.
NYT is quizzing readers on human vs AI writing
New York Times readers were given two short writing samples and asked to choose which they preferred, one written by AI and the other by a 20th-century author such as Cormac McCarthy, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carl Sagan, or Elizabeth Bishop. As of this writing, most respondents appear to prefer the human-authored pieces, though earlier results briefly showed the opposite. Critics of the experiment have noted that the test would be more revealing if the passages were longer and if the comparison included contemporary 21st-century writers. You can try the quiz yourself, though we have a feeling that welcome readers will know which one to pick.
Young Thug, Travis Scott, Killer Mike and more are trying to halt this man’s execution
Longtime political activist Killer Mike, along with rappers including Young Thug and Travis Scott, have filed briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution of James Garfield Broadnax. During sentencing, prosecutors introduced 40 pages of 19-year-old Broadnax’s handwritten rap lyrics to argue that he posed a future danger to society. The artists argue that using rap lyrics this way violates the First Amendment and systematically criminalizes the genre. The practice has become a major point of debate in recent years, drawing widespread attention during the Young Thug RICO case and prompting legislation in places like New York and LA in 2022 aimed at limiting the use of rap lyrics and other creative expression as evidence in court. Federal legislation was proposed in 2023, but has yet to be passed.
Headline curation and words by Mikail Haroon (@mvkail)
Moodboard 043
Today’s inspiration supplement. Click through to view.
From The Archive
An extra piece of content from the Welcome Archive for Magazine subscribers only.
Untitled Vaseline works by Beak Junki (2007)
“Every winter I need to apply Vaseline on my left-hand to prevent dryness, otherwise the skin becomes cracked because it is very thin and weak due to a burn that I got in my childhood.”
“I make the armour as an art work as it is a symbol of protection, with Vaseline for the weak parts of the body such as head, hand and chest. I thought that armour was suitable for representing the meaning of Vaseline as a function of protection.”
