Kanye West is gearing up for what might be his most highly anticipated release in years, and with the help of Apple Music, he was able to give fans a sneak preview of what’s to come.
On July 22, Kanye held the first listening event for his upcoming DONDA album at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. The sold-out event made history when it was announced that the livestream broke Apple Music Global Livestream record with 3.3 million total viewers, surpassing the 1.8 million viewers who tuned into the Verzuz battle between Jeezy and Gucci Mane on Apple Music late last year.
On Thursday, August 5th, ahead of the DONDA’s projected August 9th release, Kanye returned to the stage at Mercedes Benz Stadium (where he had been living for the past week), to let fans hear the new and improved version of the album.
With Demna Gvasalia working as creative director to bring Kanye’s vision to life, Thursday’s performance art piece differed from the first livestream. Rather than stand in silence while the crowd listened to the new music, a masked Kanye brought his bed center stage, was lifted into the sky by a harness, had fans in black clothing rush the floor, and led the crowd in a chant of his mother’s name — Donda.
While the final numbers have yet to reveal how this stream faired against the previous one, fans on social media could not help but voice their excitement for the project and all of the upcoming featured talent.
DONDA will be West’s 10th studio album and follows the release of his 2019 JESUS IS KING project, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Album.
