To coincide with the exclusive release of Donda 2 on the STEM PLAYER, Ye put on a performance similar to the listening parties held for Donda throughout Summer 2021. YM has a rundown on exactly what went on.
Taking place on February 22nd, the same day Donda 2 tracks began rolling out to STEM PLAYERS, the concert was hosted in Miami's LoanDepot Park Stadium. The event itself was announced by Ye roughly a week prior to starting via his Instagram page.
The event appeared to continue the themes that were showcased throughout the original Donda listening parties. The final listening party for the original Donda, which took place at Chicago's Soldier Field Stadium, culminated with a replica of Ye's childhood home being set alight while he was still inside - the Donda 2 Experience Concert was mainly advertised by a picture of the same house engulfed in flames.
Doors opened to the stadium at 8pm Eastern Time, with streams to watch the event from home going live at the same time through Ye's YouTube account, as well as Amazon Music's Twitch account. The event was also shown at selected IMAX cinemas throughout the US and Canada. Early attendees were greeted by the sound of a bass heavy heartbeat which gradually began to increase in tempo as the event got closer to starting.
Alongside the public, the concert had a large list of celebrities in attendance - names such as Migos, Jack Harlow and Elon Musk being among the many who took the trip to Miami to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event.
The set design for the Donda 2 Experience Concert was very similar to what had been showcased in the final Donda listening party which took place in August 2021. In the centre of the stadium was another replica of Ye's childhood home, though the house itself had been designed to give the impression that it had been heavily damaged by fire, which is a direct reference to the final act of the third Donda listening party, as well as Ye's video for the track 'Come To Life'. The set was complete with an artificial blood moon which helped to bathe the set in an eerie orange glow.
As the event got closer to its start, participants began appearing wearing all black clothing (in-keeping with the overall Donda aesthetic of dark colored clothing) and motorcycle helmets. The event finally kicked off with the lighting in the stadium going dark, followed shortly by a large explosion and the replica home being set ablaze.
Ye walked onto the stage shortly after before performing the first track on the Donda 2 setlist, which is known as 'True Love'. Featuring contributions from the late musical artist XXXTentacion, the track revolves around Ye's relationship and separation from his children.
The central theme of Donda 2 was also made clear - while the original Donda was dedicated to Ye's late mother, Donda 2 is themed around the breakdown in relationship between Ye and his wife, Kim Kardashian. The track 'Sci-Fi' also touches upon this topic, with the track opening up with an excerpt of Kim Kardashian speaking about her relationship with Ye from a broadcast of Saturday Night Live.
Sonically, the tracks from Donda 2 that were showcased on the night were a stark departure from what fans had heard on the original Donda. While Donda featured melancholy, sparce instrumentals with heavy organ usage in many songs, Donda 2 has a much more confrontational, aggressive sound with trap influences.
Alongside brand new tracks that were destined for Donda 2, Ye also invited friends and fellow artists The Game and Pusha T to the stage where they would perform their recently released tracks for the stadium - 'Eazy' and 'Diet Coke' respectively.
Following these performances, Ye went back to showcasing new Donda 2 tracks, which featured artists such as Baby Keem, Future, Travis Scott and Jack Harlow.
After the performances of Donda 2 tracks, Ye then decided to perform some of his tracks from the original Donda, along with other recently released tracks. 'Hurricane' and 'Jail Pt 2' were among the songs being performed, with Ye bringing DaBaby and Marilyn Manson onto the stage to help out. Unfortunately, audio issues began to pop up during the latter portion of the concert, though Ye and his associates continued to perform despite the circumstances.
Between the Donda tracks being performed, Ye invited Alicia Keys and Fivio Foreign onto the stage to perform their recently released single, 'City of Gods'.
Ye went on to perform a few more tracks from Donda, such as 'Praise God' and 'Heaven & Hell' before coming to the finale of the concert. Inviting Fivio Foreign back onto the stage and bringing out Playboi Carti, the trio performed the track 'Off The Grid' to close out the concert, finishing off with another explosion from behind the replica of Ye's childhood home.
Following the conclusion of the concert, new Donda 2 tracks began to appear on the STEM PLAYER one-by-one, with the implication that the tracks will continue to be updated in the future. Despite the audio issues of the second half, the Donda 2 Experience Concert was truly a sight to behold with its new aggressive, experimental approach in music alongside grandiose set design. With this, it's fair to say that people will continue to talk about the event years down the line.
Donda 2 is available now, exclusively on the STEM PLAYER platform. Be sure to visit STEMPLAYER.COM to order yours to enjoy Donda 2 as well as the endless mixing possibilities.
What are your thoughts on Donda 2? Do you think we'll see another listening party for the album in the future? Be sure to let us know through our social media channels - and for all things YEEZY and future STEM PLAYER endeavors, be sure to keep it locked to YM.
Feature image taken by @331des via Instagram.
