Kanye West - “DONDA 2” Experience Review

Story posted March 2, 2022 in Arts & Entertainment by Evan Smith.

Kanye West held another hybrid concert/listening event, this time for his upcoming album DONDA 2. The event took place inside of Loan Depot Park in Miami, Florida. For the fans in attendance, the event included the surprise release of two new pairs of West’s signature Yeezy shoes.

As with his previous listening events, West apparently announced the starting time for the wrong time zone, with the advertised start time being 9 p.m. EST, but the performance didn’t start until close to midnight. Instead, the first hour and a half of the event consisted of the sound of a heartbeat consistently played over the stadium speakers. This went on for long enough that some fans even left the building.

Once the performance began, the house set up in the middle of the ballpark burst into flames before Kanye West made his entrance. The first few songs were played in a similar manner to the original DONDA listening events, with unfinished songs playing through clouded speakers while Kanye dances along in front of the stadium. However, this time the event featured a couple of live song performances.

Kanye was joined on field by Migos for the reveal of a collaboration between West, the trio and rapper Baby Keem. The executive producer of DONDA 2 came out for the playing of the next two untitled songs. West played three more songs seemingly off DONDA 2, with the highlights being a song opening with a sample of Kamala Harris speaking to Joe Biden; and a song that opens with Kanye West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian speaking about how great Kanye is.

After revealing the new songs, West played some tracks off of the original DONDA album. It began with “Jail” where West was joined on stage by the controversial Marilyn Manson and DaBaby. West attempted to perform his verse live, but issues occurred with the autotuning, leading to a hysterical moment where his voice cracked over the speaker, only for West to throw the microphone into the water below him.

West would not pick up the microphone for the rest of the show. The show concluded with another failed performance, as Fivio Foreign and Alicia Keys joined the set for a live rendition of their new song “City of Gods.” This too would be plagued by audio issues, leaving West visibly angry as the show stream rolled to the end.

This show was a perplexing mishap, but is also exactly what is expected from the Chicago rapper at this point. Kanye West remains a spectacle, but anyone who was watching for the sake of hearing the new album would have been left disappointed.

The show was plagued with audio issues and the new songs played were clearly unfinished tracks. It’s a telling sign that the most memorable portions of the show were West’s mishaps and the shots he took at political figures and Kim Kardashian.

 

Evan Smith is a first-year majoring in broadcast-journalism. To contact him, email ers5828@psu.edu.