Promises of a new Kanye West album were completely shattered on Thursday (July 22) when Donda failed to arrive on DSPs at the magical hour of 9 p.m. PST. But those familiar with the G.O.O.D. Music founder’s rollouts weren’t surprised — while those who weren’t got a rude awakening.
Now, it looks like Ye fans will have to wait even longer to get their hands on the project.
On Friday (July 23), former Apple Music Curator Dylan Farella fired off a tweet suggesting it would arrive on Saturday (July 24).
“#DONDA been in production all day,” he wrote. “Finishing up mixing right now. Soon to the DSPs. Should drop by midnight. Worth the wait.”
#DONDA been in production all day. Finishing up mixing now. Soon to the DSPs. Should drop by midnight. Worth the wait.
— Dylan Farella (@dfarella) July 24, 2021
But as the hours ticked by, Farella’s subsequent tweets grew increasingly less confident.
“Remember the album drops on Kanye’s time and Kanye’s time alone,” he said roughly an hour later. “Unless this is your first rollout you know anything can happen. One tweet about Kanye and I’ve got a couple dozen death threats in like 30 mins. I’m waiting just as eagerly as everyone else but sheesh, y’all crazy.”
He added, “Nothing is ever confirmed. Not today. Not August 6th either.”
Remember the album drops on Kanye's time and Kanye's time alone. Unless this is your first rollout you know anything can happen.
— Dylan Farella (@dfarella) July 24, 2021
Nothing is ever confirmed. Not today. Not August 6th either.
— Dylan Farella (@dfarella) July 24, 2021
Farella is referring to an Instagram post from media personality and Demon Time creator Justin Laboy, the same person who claimed Donda was an instant “classic” shortly after attending a private listening party at a Las Vegas church last week.
“KANYE WEST WILL MOVE THE RELEASE DATE OF DONDA TO AUGUST 6TH,” he shared. “THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE. HE WANTS TO GIVE HIS FANS THE BEST POSSIBLE PRODUCT WITHOUT RUSHING ANYTHING. HE LOVES YALL WITH ALL OF HIS HEART. GOD BLESS.”
He wrote in the caption, “ALBUM OF THE YEAR WILL BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 6th. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE. TRUST ME IT’S GOING TO BE WORTH IT.”
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In all fairness to Kanye’s fans, they’ve already waited over a year for Donda to arrive. Those who were able to tune in to Apple Music’s livestream event on Thursday night were able to at least get a taste of what to expect — lots of gospel-inspired organs and emotive choruses.
One of the biggest surprises arrived toward the end of the show when Kayne’s Watch The Throne collaborator JAY-Z popped up on one of the tracks. The two longtime friends had been embroiled in a cold war for years, which appears to now be a thing of the past.
JAY-Z’s longtime engineer Young Guru confirmed in a tweet JAY-Z had come through in the eleventh hour to get his verse done with, “HOV did the verse today!!! At 4 pm.”
But like Farella pointed out, this is a Kanye album and “anything can happen.”
HOV did the verse today!!!! At 4pm
— Young Guru (@Young_Guru) July 23, 2021