The Strange Place Kanye West Is Living Now
After pushing the release of "Donda," Kanye West has recently decided to move into a temporary residence so he can concentrate on his album. In case you missed it, West was expected to drop his new album, "Donda," on July 22. In order to promote the project, West hosted a listening session at the Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium the evening before release day.
That night, West gave fans a preview of what "Donda" had to offer, including exciting features from Lil Baby, Travis Scott, and longtime collaborator Jay-Z. The latter was particularly surprising since West and Jay hadn't worked together in some years. On the new song, titled "Jail," Jay even hints at a possible follow-up to their collab album, "Watch The Throne." "This might be the return of The Throne," Jay raps in the third verse (via Genius). "Hova and Yeezus, like Moses and Jesus."
Despite hosting the listening session, however, West failed on his promise. On July 22, people were excited to finally jam to "Donda," but the album was (and still is) nowhere to be found, spurring countless reactions on social media. "Kanye West will move the release date of Donda to August 6th," internet personality Justin LaBoy tweeted on July 24,adding, "He wants to give his fans the best possible product without rushing anything." On July 27, a rep for West confirmed the new release date to Pitchfork. And, judging by West's new residence, it seems that he is currently working hard to deliver "Donda" on time.
Kanye West is living inside the Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium until he finishes 'Donda'
It looks like Kanye West is now calling the Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium home — the same venue where his July 21 "Donda" listening session took place. On July 26, an anonymous source told The Associated Press that West has been living inside the stadium in order to fully concentrate on his new album. After his listening session that Thursday, the Chicago-born rapper was spotted again inside the stadium during an Atlanta United soccer match.
Apart from the games, living inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium isn't a bad idea at all. According to TMZ, West took over part of the venue, which can hold 71,000 people. He reportedly built a studio space, living quarters, and even hired an in-house personal chef to keep him fed. On July 25, West was supposed to perform "Donda" at Rolling Loud Festival Miami, but now we understand why he never showed.
"DONDA EXPERIENCE Rolling Loud Miami, FL," West collaborator Consequence wrote in a now-deleted post. "07.25.21 Via KW Summer '21 Pull Up!!!" Still, West ultimately decided not to "pull up," leaving fans disappointed once again. "i just hope he's actually finishing this album and this doesn't turn sideways... again," one fan tweeted. "Man being a Kanye fan is exhausting," another person lamented. "Kanye can't keep getting away with this," a third fan wrote. Based on West's history with delayed albums, these reactions are pretty understandable. We will just have to wait until August 6!