Kanye West Announces Fourth Donda Listening Session In Chicago

It’s not over yet, folks!

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty

Kanye West had been quiet for most of 2021 and technically…hestill is. He hasn’t said a word publicity all year but has managed to have one of the most-hyped album rollouts of recent memory.

He kicked off his album rollout with a private listening session at a local church in Las Vegas with no cameras and phones allowed. Very little footage leaked from that event, but fans didn’t have to worry about what was played as Kanye quickly announced a bigger event in Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The first Atlanta event came and went and still no album was in sight, then, Kanye announced a second listening session in ATL and as expected, still no album. Earlier today, Kanye announced his fourth listening session in his hometown of Chicago and according to Billboard, it will be the grandest of them all.

The last two events, a Donda listening event on July 22 and a subsequent Donda release event on Aug. 5, were both held at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium, where he was living as he completed work on the album.

Similar to the Atlanta Donda events, Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia will act as the release event’s creative director, West’s confidant Ameer Sudan tells Billboard. West’s personal videographer, Nico Ballesteros, will also be filming the live event, which will again be livestreamed on Apple Music.

The Chicago production will be grander than the previous Donda events, says Sudan: “Expect a more detailed show on a whole other level.”

Kanye’s manager Bu revealed on Instagram the album will be released after the show, which marks the first time someone directly in Kanye’s camp has mentioned a release for the project. The major key between each listening session was the massive upgrades Kanye made to his 10th studio album. With three more weeks under his belt in the studio, the finished product is sure to rank in the top half of Kanye’s discography as the perfectionist Kanye has returned during this process.

Will you be listening or are you over the delays? Let us know on Twitter @bossip.