The way things have gone with recent Kanye West albums is that ahead of their release, West goes from completely off the radar to drumming up unreal amounts of hype. Well, the latter step seems to be taking place now. He apparently hosted a listening event for Donda over the weekend, and an associate declared the album is dropping this week. Now, another listening event is on the way, and it’s a big one.
Some West associates, including Pusha T, shared a minimalist flyer for the event, which is scheduled for July 22 at 8 p.m. at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a 75,000-capacity venue where the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons play their home games.
The reported cover art for the album has also surfaced, and it’s an abstract painting that looks like a woman, painted in red on a gray background. The art was made by the late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (and not West’s daughter North, as some have speculated), who died at 98 in 2010.
ALBUM COVER
Kanye West – Donda(Artwork by Louise Bourgeois) pic.twitter.com/G8Im71lrbC
— TeamKanyeDaily (@TeamKanyeDaily) July 19, 2021
A couple days ago, what may be the tracklist for the album also leaked. Furthermore, a post on the Kanye West subreddit r/WestDayEver collects information from users who were supposedly at the first listening party. The thread indicates that the album will feature appearances from Lil Baby, Post Malone, Griselda, KayCyy, Travis Scott, and Baby Keem.
Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ tracklist has been spotted in the studio where he was recording‼️? pic.twitter.com/rHdozTf3Y4
— RapTV (@raptvcom) July 17, 2021
Of course, West has famously not released albums on their expected street dates — he previously said Donda was coming in 2020 — so only time will tell if this week actually brings new music from West.