On The Scene: Kanye West Hosts ‘Donda’ Listening Event in Atlanta

Where do I start? For starters… let’s get the formalities out of the way.

Kanye West is the greatest artist of all time — not the greatest politician, or spokesperson for a company, or even the greatest rapper (JAY Z holds that title) — but Kanye is the greatest artist. And art is exactly what we got for the DONDA listening event at the 70,000 capacity (pretty big) Mercedes-Benz football stadium on Thursday July 22, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s only fitting that an album dedicated to his late mother would be played for the first time to the general public in the town where he was born. That same logic could have very well inspired the minimal stage design — a white coated blanket covered the entire length of the football field. Perhaps a reference to a hospital room with the fans serving as doctors/nurses and the dome opening revealing the sky serving as a gateway to his mother.

The show was supposed to start at 8 p.m. — but in true Kanye fashion it didn’t go as planned. But fans weren’t complaining, they were making the most out of one of the first major events in Atlanta since the pandemic.

The majority of people in attendance were supporting Kanye in other ways besides the music. Yeezys were the footwear of choice and the merch lines to buy a $120 DONDA baby photo printed t-shirt wrapped around and around. Good thing posters of DONDA and Kanye at the 2007 Grammys were given away for free.

Around 10 p.m. the lights went off to the crowd’s roar. Moments later the fully wrap around LED screen lit up and a masked man dropped in a yet to be released Red Yeezy Gap Jacket, red leather pants, and an unreleased high top orange 1070V Boost Yeezy Adidas shoes. Kanye walked right into the middle of the stadium with enough bravado to be looked at like a hero.

With it being the first time hearing the songs from DONDA, no one was singing along — everyone just was completely in the moment (with their phones out of course). Although Kanye didn’t say a word the whole night he didn’t have to, the beats and lyrics spoke for themselves. Everyone who couldn’t make it to Atlanta were fortunate enough to view the once in a lifetime event via livestream brought to fans by Apple Music.

As everyone is still processing the music and making sense of the multilayered songs — one thing I can say is that it is dope.

At the time of writing this, it’s Friday morning July 23, 2021 and still no album is out — but much like Thursday night (and all of Kanye’s art for that matter), it will for sure be worth the wait.