To kick off the release, Kanye West held The Donda Performance Experience, a show that combines music, art and fashion as a way to promote the album, as well as his Yeezy Gap collaboration engineered by Balenciaga. Shortly after releasing his first album Donda in 2021, West teased a sequel that would come sooner than the public believed. He aimed to create a more simplified and diverse album so that his music could be played for several different occasions, including graduations, baby showers and funerals.
Donda 2 features artists such as ASAP Rocky, Pusha T and Travis Scott, and will only be available through West’s own platform, the Stem Player. He made this revelation via Instagram, where he voiced how artists receive a small amount of the money that the industry makes through streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. The device will allow users to listen to music for free, as well as provide them with a new listening experience. By making his album available on a single service, West hopes to free the “oppressive” music industry and encourages building our own. Since the Stem Player was released, it has long surpassed $2 million in sales. Not only this, but West is able to keep all the profit being made rather than only a small percentage. With this much revenue, West is expected to develop a large audience for his release.
After the album failed to release overnight when Kanye said it would, fans were outraged. They took to Twitter with their disappointment, saying that it is no surprise that the album is nowhere to be found. Fans who purchased West’s Stem Player specifically to listen to the album were especially let down when they didn’t receive access to it. The artist has yet to address this situation on any social media platform, leaving fans both confused and annoyed at his silence. Despite West’s history of not releasing his albums on time and limiting the services in which his music can be streamed, fans remain hopeful that they will be able to listen to his new album soon.
Along with the album, West held a concert on the same day at LoanDepot Park Stadium in Miami. The stadium holds around 37,000 people, which is a much smaller audience than the roughly 70,000 people who attended one of West’s previous performances at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum including an appearance by Drake for the Free Larry Hoover benefit concert. Several posts were made on the artist’s account promoting his upcoming performance. Despite these posts being removed to now promote his Stem Player, behind-the-scenes photos showing the stage setup for his performance have begun to flood the internet. Through The Donda Performance Experience, the audience was not only able to listen to West’s music, but they also experienced the art behind his performance.
Fans got a hold of tickets for The Donda Performance Experience quickly, and the event featured a lot of artists, including Alicia Keys, Migos, Playboi Carti and Jack Harlow. However, for those who were unable to get their hands on a ticket to the event, West has announced that the Donda 2 show will be shown in select IMAX theaters. There was a livestream of West’s performance in Miami, so fans around the world are able to experience it.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest!