The most exciting thing that happened before Kanye West‘s album listening party last night was watching a guy chop wood to feed a crackling campfire for 3 hours.
Kanye flew friends, music critics and DJs to his studio retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to hear his first album in 2 years.
Fans were also invited to join the listening session online by downloading a music streaming app. The app was free but fans were required to register — only to watch a campfire crackle for 3 hours as horses grazed in a field nearby.
A chef provided finger food and cold beverages for the invited guests. There were Nas, Chris Rock, Teyana Taylor and Candace Owens mingling in the crowd.
As the minutes ticked by, fans grew restless watching the campfire burn online.
“I’m tired of looking at fire,” one fan tweeted.
Then, around 9 p.m. Wyoming time — after the Warriors beat LeBron in overtime in game 1 of the NBA Finals — Chris Rock finally introduced Kanye, who walked through the crowd arm-in-arm with his wife, Kim Kardashian West.
The album’s 7 tracks were hand-painted on Kanye’s shirt.
“Welcome to the world premiere of the latest opus from the one and only Kanye West entitled, Ye,” Rock said.
“Remember this rap music, hip-hop music, is the first art form created by free black men. And no black man has taken more advantage of his freedom than Kanye West. Listen without prejudice.”
As the 1st track played, the streaming app showed Kanye, Kim and about a hundred others dancing around the campfire.
At one point during the livestream, Kim used her shirt sleeve to wipe the sweat (or tears) from Kanye’s face.
The album includes features by Pusha T, The-Dream, A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Ty Dolla $ign, Frank Ocean, Willow Smith, and Nicki Minaj (via voicemail).
On one track Kanye name-drops Kerry Washington, Naomi Campbell, Russell Simmons, Stormy Daniels and Tristan Thompson (“All these thots on Christian Mingle/That’s what almost got Tristan single.”).
On another track Kanye raps about self-mutilation and thoughts of murder-suicide (“I love myself way more than I love you and I think about killing myself/ So best believe I thought about killing you today.”).
Kanye also confirmed his bipolar disorder, which he claims gives him super powers (“ain’t no disability, I’m a superhero.”).
And he mentions the moment Kim called him freaking out over his spur-of-the-moment “slavery” comment to TMZ (“Wife calling, screaming, saying we’re about to lose it all/ I had to calm her down ‘cause she couldn’t breathe/I told her she could leave me now but she wouldn’t leave.”).
The Chicago rapper also revealed his soft side for the mother of his 3 children (“For every down female that stuck with they dude through the best times, through the worst times — this is for you.”).
Kanye previously released the jibber-jabber song “Lift Yourself” and “Ye Vs The People,” a political debate track featuring Atlanta rapper T.I. as the people. Neither song was well received.
Around 1:30 a.m. EST, someone uploaded all 7 tracks from the listening session to the Internet.
As fans listened and waited for the official album to drop, Kim tweeted that Kanye snapped the album photo on his iPhone on their way to the listening session — which made sense after the drama he caught for licensing Whitney Houston‘s drug den photo for Pusha T’s Daytona cover.
Kanye finally dropped the album on Tidal and Spotify just before rush hour Friday morning.
On the cover, against a backdrop of mountains, are the conflicting words: “I hate being Bi-Polar, it’s awesome”.
Tracklist
1. I Thought About Killing You
2. Yikes
3. All Mine (ft. Ty Dolla $ign, Valee)
4. Wouldn’t Leave (ft. Jeremih, Ty Dolla $ign & Young Thug)
5. No Mistakes (Ft. Charlie Wilson & Kid Cudi)
6. Ghost Town (ft. John Legend, 070 Shake & Kid Cudi)
7. Violent Crimes (ft. Dej Loaf & Nicki Minaj)
