Rapper Kanye West suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction on the opening night of his North American tour after his pants split onstage.

The Stronger hitmaker kicked off his Yeezus trek in Seattle, Washington on Saturday (19Oct13) with an energetic two-hour set, and courted controversy by bringing out a Jesus Christ lookalike towards the end of his performance.

But the gig wasn't without incident - a pair of grey trousers he had donned ripped along the inner seam in the middle of a song, leaving him to press on with the show with a gaping hole at his crotch.

West, who also wore a bejewelled black face mask during the show, later changed out of the damaged pants during a costume switch.

The rapper's stylist has a little extra time to replace the stage pants - he had to postpone a planned concert in Vancouver, Canada on Sunday (20Oct13) due to "unforeseen circumstances" and will next perform in San Jose, California on Tuesday (22Oct13).