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Kanye West debuts floating stage on 'Saint Pablo' tour

The tour is in support of the rapper's album "The Life of Pablo."

By Annie Martin
Kanye West (R) and Kim Kardashian at the Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2. The rapper kicked off his "Saint Pablo" tour Thursday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 3 | Kanye West (R) and Kim Kardashian at the Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2. The rapper kicked off his "Saint Pablo" tour Thursday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Kanye West surprised fans by debuting a floating stage Thursday on his Saint Pablo tour.

The 39-year-old rapper kicked off the 38-date venture in Indianapolis, Ind., by performing 15 feet above the crowd on a suspended, moving platform. West later told E! News the concept was 10 years in the making.

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"At least eight months of planning for [the final design]," West revealed. "Traveling around the world and meeting with the best stage designers on the globe."

"I just wanted people to get into it and have a fun time," he explained. "Make it not be just about watching the artist but people watching their friends and singing along with the lyrics and just being able to see themselves and their outfits."

"[It takes] the concert experience to another level," the star said. "It's not just about what you're seeing on the screen or what you're seeing me doing up on the stage, but what you and your friends are doing."

West launched Saint Pablo in support of his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, and will bring the tour to a close Nov. 1 in Inglewood, Calif. The rapper had previously told fans to expect an elaborate show.

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"My tour game is strong. My tour game is unprecedented," he said on The Steve Harvey Show in May. "I'm trying to literally inspire these kids the way Disney inspired me when I first saw the original Star Wars."

West will break from the tour Sunday to attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, where he is nominated for Video of the Year and Best Male Video for "Famous." Singer Taylor Swift, who has a fraught history with the rapper, is expected to skip the ceremony.

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