--- description: The rapper was largely silenced by the network, but his stardom came through loud and clear title: Billboard Music Awards 2015: Kanye West "All Day" "Black Skinhead" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Kanye West's Too-Profane-For-TV Performance at the Billboard Music Awards  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 3:11 AM CUT  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 3:11 AM CUT He might be muted, but his message still carries across. Kanye West performed new song “All Day” and 2013 song “Black Skinhead” at the Billboard Music Awards, in a performance quite literally muted by several significant cuts away on audio, as the artist danced in silhouette in front of pyrotechnic effects. This didn’t seem to mute audience enthusiasm; West is, even when performing a two-year-old single to close an awards ceremony putatively about new music, the biggest star in the room. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3882099/kanye-west-billboard-music-awards/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3882099/kanye-west-billboard-music-awards/"},"headline":"Watch Kanye West's Too-Profane-For-TV Performance at the Billboard Music Awards","datePublished":"2015-05-18T03:11:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:24:12.369Z","description":"The rapper was largely silenced by the network, but his stardom came through loud and clear","url":"https://time.com/3882099/kanye-west-billboard-music-awards/","keywords":["Music","Kanye West"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3882099/kanye-west-billboard-music-awards/","name":"Watch Kanye West's Too-Profane-For-TV Performance at the Billboard Music Awards"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Kanye West on Why He Doesn't Care About His Legacy","description":"“Every time I say something that’s extremely truthful out loud, it literally breaks the internet. So what are we getting all of the rest of the time?” asks West, the rapper and designer.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hQZVDnKU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-16T01:37:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hQZVDnKU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3882099/kanye-west-billboard-music-awards/","duration":"PT3M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3882099/kanye-west-billboard-music-awards/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```