Last week, Apple Music and Kanye West teamed up to offer an exclusive Livestream of the listening event for West’s upcoming album Donda.Īccording to 9to5mac, the event was streamed exclusively on Apple Music from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where it broke the record for an Apple Music Livestream. Millions of fans are expecting Kanye West's new album but it is not going to be released like his last work. When he wasn’t standing perfectly still, he solemnly paced the floor, appearing trapped inside an illuminated prison or walking over projected images, including an anime clip of a child jumping backward from a high mountain perch, spliced with footage of an astronaut falling back to Earth.3.3 million people tuned into the Apple Music Livestream from the Kanye West Donda listening party Clearly losing patience, some audience members attempted a chant of “Say something” as West stood motionless and stared out into the gathering. Otherwise, there was limited enthusiasm for the music. Praise God, a trappy bounce track that echoed the sound of Atlanta’s Migos and featured Travis Scott and Baby Keem, offered staccato lyrics like: “I been had the bop / The devil my opp.” There was a notably positive reaction to the material that seemed destined to win in Atlanta, the home of trap music: Hurricane features the Kenyan American pop rapper Ka圜yy and local superstar Lil Baby, whose voice caused visible bouncing inside the stadium. The pared-back sound brought focus to the music’s repetitive features, such as the refrain “We gonna be OK” of the song 24. From what could be heard through the noise, much of the music felt inspired by gospel, with Auto-Tuned vocal moans weaving through church organs, atmospheric soundscapes and minimalistic production – drum tracks were conspicuously absent. West did not address the crowd or even have a microphone. At the Donda event, the violently loud beginnings served as a harbinger for an uncomfortable, disconnected and mostly low-energy evening of music. West’s actual concert performances are conceptual and innovative: on the 2016 Saint Pablo tour, he performed on a floating platform suspended over the crowd. ‘An uncomfortable, disconnected and mostly low-energy evening of music.’ Photograph: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Music Group Local restaurateur Pinky Cole gave away 1,000 tickets. West donated 5,000 tickets to the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which includes heralded HBCUs Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College. In reality, access to the show was still available as late as Thursday morning. The listening party, announced on Pusha T’s Instagram account on 19 July, set off a scramble for tickets originally priced at $20 and $50, which many assumed would sell out quickly. Scattershot album releases represent the tip of West’s unpredictable actions in recent years, among them endorsing Donald Trump, a failed presidential bid and off-colour remarks about his family. Theophilus London, one of West’s collaborators, has said that West is finishing verses and adding new guest features to a tracklist that already includes Travis Scott, Playboi Carti and a surprise feature from Jay-Z that suggests a rapprochement between the two rappers. As of publication, it has not materialised. The listening party was expected to herald the album’s release on Friday. As the night went on, it would become clear that Come to Life was one of the closest songs to completion on Donda, named for West’s late mother most other songs were played in snippet or obvious demo form. Through the blasting audio came West’s recorded voice, trading bars with Pusha T, a frequent collaborator. After raising his arm to greet the crowd, he walked to the centre of the white-clothed floor where he mostly stood still, occasionally swaying, stumbling or dropping to his knees in a prayer-like posture, illuminated by a shape-shifting spotlight. West emerged from a tunnel wearing a puffy red jacket, matching leather trousers and orange shoes. The giant listening party for Donda, West’s long-awaited 10th studio album, had finally begun, almost two hours late. Ten minutes later, the speakers started blasting music at an uncomfortable volume as the song Come to Life appeared to start playing halfway through.
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