Kanye West‘s new album ‘DONDA’ will be released following his listening event in Chicago next week, according to his manager.
The rapper and producer’s much-anticipated tenth studio album has already been previewed during two listening events at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, though the record is still yet to be released.
The third ‘DONDA’ event will be held at Soldier Field stadium in Chicago on Thursday (August 26). The album is slated to arrive the day after (August 27), according to a listing on Apple Music.
West’s manager Bu Thiam has now confirmed the rapper will “absolutely” release ‘DONDA’ after next week’s listening event, although he didn’t confirm the exact release date.
The vice president of Def Jam says Kanye West will “absolutely,” “100%” drop #DONDA next Friday following his third event pic.twitter.com/s4l5wkAArz
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) August 18, 2021
Responding to fans on Instagram this week, one user asked: “After this will [West] finally drop the album?”, leading Thiam to reply, “Absolutely!”
Another asked if there’s a chance that West could delay the album again, but Thiam said he will “100%” release ‘DONDA’.
Next week’s ‘DONDA’ show is set to be livestreamed once again on Apple Music.
Prior to West’s second Atlanta event, he broadcast a livestream on Apple Music from a dressing room at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and was seen sleeping, exercising and recording with his collaborators.
Billboard reports that Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia will serve as the Chicago listening event’s creative director, while West’s personal videographer, Nico Ballesteros, will be filming the live event.
5.4 million viewers on Apple Music watched the event, eclipsing the previous record of 3.3 million people who tuned in for the first Atlanta ‘DONDA’ event.