There’s a LOT to unpack from Kanye West’s DONDA listening party on Thursday night. ‘Ye was about two hours late starting the event at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium. We would find out on social media that Kanye was still working on the album leading up to the event. There’s a picture of 2 Chainz pulling up and recording vocals backstage.
Once the listening party began, Kanye kept things minimal by using the whole floor of the stadium as his stage. White smoke was released inside to set the heavenly vibe. As track after track played with features by Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, Pusha T, Baby Keem, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and more, Kanye rocked out with a full face mask and a red outfit. Yes, apparently Lil Durk made the cut even though he tweeted earlier this week that he missed out on the album because he missed a flight.
The big surprise of the evening was Jay-Z appearing on a track. Toward the end of the night, Jay’s voice popped up, and everyone lost it. Jay and ‘Ye had been long-time collaborators, but their relationship had been strained over the years. Jay-Z’s longtime engineer Young Guru tweeted, “HOV did the verse today!!!! At 4pm.” That’s probably why Kanye was so late. He was mixing the track down. One of Jay’s lyrics said, “I told him to stop all that red cap, we going home / This might be the return of the Throne. Hova and Yeezus, like Moses and Jesus.”
Kanye’s soon-to-be-ex-wife Kim Kardashian was there with their four children. In one of the songs, ‘Ye raps that he was “losing my family.”
