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August 13, 2021

YZY SZN is. . . still loading

richyfig
Features Writer

A Kanye West project has been long overdue. It's been two years since Jesus Is King hit the shelves, three since his joint project with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts, as well as his critically acclaimed album Ye. Mid July Kanye announced his tenth studio album DONDA, named after his late mother. Fans took it with a grain of salt since Kanye is infamous for announcing projects which end up being pushed back all the time.

The days leading up to the first release date and then the time that’s passed since has been full of headlines, rumors, antics and walking through fake snow. We sat down and tied it all together to help you make sense of this most recent Yeezy rollout.

UPDATE (AUGUST 16):

Veteran producer Mike Dean has been a long-time friend and collaborator of Ye's, and it came as no surprise when he was spotted at the stadium alongside Ye working on DONDA. Rumors began to spark over the weekend of the album being scrapped and Dean stepping away from the project due to a toxic work environment and tweets that were taken out of context. In the end, it turned out that Dean in fact had not left the project and the whole team is still apparently working towards a release, someday.

Oh, and Kanye may have pulled a WCW Sting impression at the Atlanta Falcons preseason game too:

Original Article:

July 18

Def Jam tweeted out “YZY SZN.” The same day Ye hosted a private listening party in Las Vegas. That same week footage emerged of Tyler, The Creator and Ye at the studio in which you spot a whiteboard with the tracklist for DONDA.

July 22

Ye took to Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium, where he premiered his new album DONDA. Tickets were sold to this premiere, and he sold out all 71,000 seats. His performance was emotional as he broke down in front of all these thousands of people while performing a new track called "Loved Unconditionally" a track in which he gets vocal about losing his family. Ye broke down and fell to his knees as the song played.

Following the listening party the city of Atlanta officially declared July 22nd to be Kanye West Day. At the same time Ye was also presented with an award honoring his late mother Donda for her tenure as a respected member of the Morris Brown College family.

The listening party was streamed to millions of people over Apple Music, and the tracklist features the likes of Lil Baby, Pusha T, Don Toliver, Lil Durk, and more.

July 24

It was reported and confirmed by Ye himself that he's been living inside the Mercedes Benz Stadium in order to polish up the album. During an Atlanta United FC soccer game, he was spotted still wearing his signature all red outfit from the listening party.

July 30

DONDA was originally scheduled to release July 23rd the day after the Atlanta listening party, but since Kanye decided to add finishing touches and get features in he set a new release date which is reported to be August 6th, a day after the second listening party he will be hosting August 5th at the Mercedes Benz Stadium once again.

Rumored Features & Other Details

Jay Z & Watch The Throne II

While DONDA has been the center of attention for the past week rumors have been going around saying that Ye and Jay Z will be working on Watch The Throne II. This happened after Jay Z offered to hop on a track the same night of the listening party.

Lil Durk

Internet personality Adin Ross was shooting hoops with Lil Durk and friends on live. Durk then went on to confirm during that live that he had in fact recorded his verse.

Rooga

Chicago englewood native Rooga is another artist who is reported to be on DONDA. Rooga took to his Facebook to thank Ye for the opportunity he was given.

The Weeknd

It seems like Ye and Abel have been playing phone tag and keep on missing each other's calls. As soon as they get that sorted out we are likely to also see The Weeknd on DONDA.

August 5

Overnight Ye launched a countdown to DONDA over Apple Music's platform as a live stream containing no audio. During the livestream, we spotted the likes of Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Jadakiss, and Fivio Foreign. As of 10 a.m. on Aug. 5, Ye is still live, but he's streaming himself while asleep. Is this the calm before the storm? Are we finally getting DONDA?

A second listening party went down that night, and as usual, it was a success. Ultimately the album didn't drop at the end of that night.

August 9

According to Apple Music DONDA's pre-order page, the album was set to release on August 9, but in true Ye fashion, it was pushed back once again.

August 12 

DONDA's Apple Music pre-order page now shows a new date in which the album is expected to be unleashed, August 22. Another thing to note is that Ye's Apple Music profile's image has been changed to a black screen.

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