Kanye West knows how to put on a show. The rapper/designer proved this yet again by premiering his Yeezy Season 3 collection and his seventh album The Life of Pablo at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Guests aside, Kanye’s lyrics were also striking. Freestyle 4 is a “wake-up” call as Mr. West addresses police brutality. “Hands up, we just doin’ what cops taught us,” he raps on the track. “Hands up, hands up, and then they shot us.”

Yeezy’s rhymes about himself were also thought-provoking. Father Stretch My Hands proved to be as emotional as promised. The song touches on West’s Through the Wire car crash, his relationship with his father, and his late mother Donda West’s passing. Later, ‘Ye revealed a video game based on his “mom traveling through the gates of heaven.”

Following the performance, an introspective Kanye took the mic. “This album is really a gospel album,” he told the crowd. “It’s been a hard struggle and I feel so happy, so much joy to be able to actually follow my dreams without people shitting on me.”

After thanking his family, adidas, and big homie Jay Z for their support and addressing Nike (“Fuck Nike!” chanted the crowd), Kanye offered up this ethos: “I just want to bring as much beauty to the world as possible.”