| You must be totally prepared but you must also be empty. |
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Kanye West at his "Donda" listening party, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, July 22, 2021.
(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
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“You must be totally prepared but you must also be empty.”
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404 & Heartbreak
Well KANYE WEST certainly hasn't lost his flair for the dramatic. I don't think it will shock anyone that his long-awaited, long-delayed DONDA album, due out today, was still being recorded as of late Thursday afternoon according to credible reports, or that Kanye was two hours late to his own listening party in an Atlanta football stadium Thursday night, or that, as I wrap this newsletter early Friday morning, it doesn't appear to have been released anywhere. But the day is long and there are plenty of hours of sunlight ahead. And he did play the album, or what we all have reason to assume is the album, in that stadium (and via a livestream that had mouths agape around social media and the world). It sounded very Kanye, in a good way, with lots of singing, or at least sing-songing; lots of meditating on events in his life you're all too familiar with; a few references so current (Giannis! The Bucks!) you could almost believe it was meant as a proof-of-life hostage document; taped interludes from his late mother, for whom the album is named; a couple of very very surprise guests; confidence; confusion; heartbreak, and a patina of gospel fervor, or at least as much gospel fervor as you can assign to an album whose last song had him repeatedly chanting, "Guess who's going to jail tonight" (or maybe that's in fact confirmation of Kanye's gospel). Reminder, not that you need it: He's very good at this. He sometimes overreaches but he doesn't make bad records. Ever.
It *looked* amazing. It wasn't a live performance so there was no stage. And there was no one sitting on the field (which strangely, at least on my iPad, looked more basketball-arena-sized than football-stadium-sized), which was covered in some kind of white material, over which Kanye roamed, in a red puffer jacket and WATCHMEN-like mask, while the album played. He would stand or sit in place for long stretches and then resume roaming, not saying a word, often raising one or both arms as if to give himself an amen. A lone, silent prophet wandering on what you might imagine was a cloud, surrounded by fans but also at a distance from them. It was less-as-more taken to its logical conclusion, and as arresting a music visual as I've seen in a long time. Reminder: He's very good at this.
P.S. Has anyone else done this—forgo a stage altogether and take over an entire stadium field (or arena floor) in its place? Economically, it's probably a nonstarter. But you'll never look better losing all that money.
P.P.S. Kanye co-produced the new LIL NAS X and JACK HARLOW single, "INDUSTRY BABY," which is also out today.
It's Friday
And besides Kanye West's DONDA that means new music from a certain Australian pop star who told Billboard earlier this week, "I love Kanye more than myself." The KID LAROI didn't know until a few days ago that he'd have release-day competition from his idol. But that doesn't mean the teen emo hip-hop breakout star (yes I know that's too many adjectives) is in serious danger of having the final part of his F*** LOVE trilogy buried by Kanye. In some corners of the world, and not just Down Under, the reverse may be true... Texas singer/songwriter LEON BRIDGES "has worked his way forward through soul-music history" on his first three albums, including the new GOLD-DIGGERS SOUND, NY Times critic JON PARELES opines—from '60 soul to '80s and '90s R&B to, on the new album, a more modern, less pastiche approach relying on slow-burning productions and songs that showcase "a lonely figure in a desolate space, pleading and promising"... "I'm gradually stopping the whole speed and shred thing and I'm playing with a whole lot more feeling, as my forefathers did," says blues guitar prodigy CHRISTONE "KINGFISH" INGRAM, who second album, 662, is named for the area code in his hometown of Clarksdale, Miss.... Mobile, Ala., rapper YUNG BLEU, who got a buzz-building assist from Drake on his 2020 single "You're Mines Still," is joined by Moneybagg Yo, H.E.R., John Legend and 2 Chainz on his full-length studio debut, MOON BOY... Electronic composer Nicolás Jaar and jazz guitarist Dave Harrington meet in some kind of psychedelic middle on their second album as DARKSIDE, which arrives eight years after their first. They are "the world's weirdest jam band"... Irrepressible free jazz bassist WILLIAM PARKER releases two albums with two separate trios... ANDY PARTRIDGE's MY FAILED SONGWRITING CAREER VOL. 1 is a collection of songs originally written for other artists—and rejected.
Plus new music from LEDISI (Nina Simone tribute EP), BRITTANY HOWARD (an album of remixes by artists including Childish Gambino, Laura Mvula, Bon Iver and Common), CHIIILD (aka Montreal pop songwriter/producer Yonatan Ayal), ANIKA, LIL DUKE, LIL MOE 6BLOCKA & ROOGA, JAZZ CARTIER, RANSOM & BIG GHOST LTD, EMMA-JEAN THACKRAY, GRAHAM HAYNES & SUBMERGED, ORRIN EVANS, GRAMPS MORGAN, RODNEY CROWELL, MOLLY BURCH, DAVID CROSBY, JACKSON BROWNE, GAVIN TUREK, BLUESTAEB, DAVE, CHILDISH MAJOR, AVELINO, BIZZY BANKS, MORDRED, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, CAPSTAN, the DESCENDENTS, ANNE-MARIE, ORGONE, OBONGJAYAR & SARZ, JALANG, BARDO (solo debut from Chicano Batman frontman), ALEXIS MARSHALL (likewise from Daughters frontman), YES/AND, PIROSHKA, UPPER WILDS, LISA CRAWLEY, SAMIA, MEGABOG, ORA THE MOLECULE and the South African compilation AMAPIANO NOW.
Rest in Peace
South African jazz pianist ANDRE PETERSEN.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Billboard |
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NPR Music |
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The Washington Post |
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The Guardian |
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NPR |
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VICE |
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DJ Mag |
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The Ringer |
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Complex |
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Stereogum |
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| Music of the day |
| "Tired of You" |
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| From Yung Bleu's "Moon Boy," out today on Vandross/Empire. |
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YouTube |
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From Yung Bleu's "Moon Boy," out today on Vandross/Empire.
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| Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech |
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“REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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| CEO & Chief Curator |
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