Kanye West hospitalized after erratic behavior

Rapper Kanye West was hospitalized on Monday, according to US media, shortly after the musician announced he was canceling the remaining dates of his concert tour. The news followed reports of unpredictable conduct in recent days, including interrupting a concert last Thursday to rant about politics for an hour.

NBC News announced that West had checked in to a Los Angeles hospital after police responded to concern's about the artist's "medical welfare" on Monday afternoon, just a few hours after tour organizer Live Nation said West had called off 21 concerts in the US and Canada.

This was the first time the rapper has canceled a concert since his wife, Kim Kardashian West, was robbed at gunpoint in front of their children in Paris in October.

After his initial tirade, West irked fans again by stopping his concert on Saturday in San Jose after only three songs in order to criticize Hillary Clinton and one-time friend Jay-Z, among other.

"It's a new world, Hillary Clinton, it's a new world," he said, adding "Feelings matter. Because guess what? Everybody in Middle America felt a way and they showed you how they felt."

West then said that had he cast a ballot, he would have voted for Donald Trump, prompting fellow rapper Snoop Dogg to call him "crazy" in an Instagram video.

During the outburst, West also called out hip-hop mogul Jay-Z for allegedly not calling him since the robbery, before implying that Beyonce's husband had sent hitmen after him and his family.

es/bw (AFP, dpa)