Leave it up to megastar rapper and producer Kanye West to put Atlanta back on the musical map for July. West chose downtown Atlanta’s largest venue to debut his new album.
West held the second of two listening party events at Mercedes Benz Stadium at 8 p.m. in Atlanta on Thursday, July 22, 2021.
Kanye West Invites Celebrities To Listening Party At Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium
The Sunday before, the artist treated a relatively small crowd to new music in Las Vegas. When tickets went on sale in Atlanta, TicketMaster users experienced a long wait before orders began to go through.
This is how the tickets looked.
Along with guest appearances from 2Chainz and even Jay Z, the album’s first listen appears to be a winner.
After a long delay, West finally came out to thunderous applause from the crowd.
What’s The Name Of Kanye West’s New Album?
West’s new album is reportedly called DONDA, which was his late mother’s name. And by choosing Mercedes-Benz Stadium, West is making it very clear that he believes his new songs are what he’s called stadium music.
“I wanted my drums to bang harder in stadiums,” he told Concrete Loop. “Bono [of rock group U2] told me that ‘No one from your community has ever figured this out.’ And if you think about it, nobody of the black community can really sell out stadiums, like 30,000 seaters, there’s not one artist you can think of. I can think of four, you know, white artists.”
He once said in a November 2007
Rolling Stone interview, “All those people that bootlegged the album, there’s a chance they’ll come to the concert, or play the music for their kids, that these songs will connect in different ways. Thai’s more important than sales. My goal is playing stadiums, and I don’t think having millions of illegal downloads hurts that.”
What Is DONDA’s Tracklist?
The DONDA tracklist leaked online hours after West’s Atlanta listening party. Fans are refreshing their Apple Music accounts to see if the album is posted yet. Here is the DONDA tracklisting according to multiple sources on social media:
- 24/ Y’all Gonna Be Okay
- South California (Feat. Pusha T)
- Junya Watanabe (Feat. Playboi Carti)
- Remote Control
- Praise God (Feat. Travis Scott & Baby Keem)
- Welcome to My Life
- Hurricane (Feat. Lil Baby & KayCyy)
- Moon (Feat. Don Toliver)
- Unttitled (Feat. vory, Lil Durk & Ty Dolla $ign)
- Pure Souls (Feat. Roddy Ricch)
- New Again
- We Made It (Feat. Pop Smoke)
- I Know God Breathed On This (Feat. Vory)
- No Child Left Behind (Feat. Vory)
- Heaven & Hell (Feat. Jay Z)
Again, this is not an official list because West has delayed release of the album.
While many who have heard ‘Ye’s new music have not commented on it, what we do know comes from the Twitter account of Justin Laboy, who says he and NBA star Kevin Durant were treated to some tunes by West himself over the weekend.
Laboy also posted some photos of the encounter with West and Durant, which he said will take modern music in a whole new direction when West drops the album.
The pastor of LVChurch has confirmed that West will be inviting a crowd of people to be among the first to hear his 10th album in Atlanta.
Is This The DONDA Album Cover?
No official word yet, but social media is abuzz on platforms like @dondasplace on Instagram with an image purportedly from visual artist Louise Bourgeois, a French sculptor and plastic artist and naturalized American citizen who painted a red figure that some are saying is the cover art for DONDA.
In addition to paintings, Bourgeois is well known for her public art installations and sculpture.
Final Word
If you’ve never been to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the acoustics are perfect for the big sounds of an artist like West. The cavernous hallways in the Merc-Benz will help circulate the booms and baps of his music like few stadiums can.
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