It’s time for round three of Kanye West streaming a listening party for his new album Donda live. While the last two took place in Atlanta, this one is broadcasting live from his hometown of Chicago, where he has reportedly built a replica of his childhood home in Chicago in Soldier Field. COVID-19 vaccinations and testing were reportedly not required for this limited capacity event. Watch it happen on Apple Music. (Pitchfork earns a commission on purchases made through affiliate links on our website.)
Kanye has been teasing Donda since last year. In July 2020, he shared a song snippet entitled “DONDA” which contained a sample of West’s late mother Donda reciting lyrics from KRS-One’s “Sound of da Police”. Later that month, he tweeted and deleted a 20-song tracklist and later shared an updated list of 12 tracks from his next album called Donda. The LP was supposed to be released on July 24, 2020, but never appeared.
The rapper only reinvigorated the album hype last month when he announced the first ever Donda listening party, which was held on July 22nd at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. West premiered Donda at the event that was due to be released the next day. It never appeared.
West later postpones the album release date to August 6th and announces a second Donda listening party, again held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta last night. The event was streamed live by Apple Music. West later revealed that he would end the album live during the continuous stream, which featured Kanye’s living quarters in the arena and a countdown clock on one wall of the barren room. Before the album was released, Kanye sold a device called the Donda Stem Player.
Read “What Does Kanye Really Win (Or Lose) By Sharing His Record Deals?” On the court.
