The DONDA saga has been nothing if not, uhh, interesting. Between the mega-profitable Demna Gvasalia-designed merch and eerie livestreams, Kanye has given the world much to do as he fiddles endlessly with his latest record.
Next week, Kanye will be back in his hometown of Chicago for the third DONDA listening event, where the much-ballyhooed album is actually supposed to drop.
Tickets are already live for the August 26 event at Soldier Field, a spacious stadium that most frequently hosts soccer and football games.
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Given Kanye’s current predilection for living in sports stadiums, though it’s not out of the realm of speculation he’ll take up residency in Soldier Field after the party to further flesh out his latest opus.
Sure, according to Kanye’s manager, the album will “100%” drop on or after the event, but so many promised DONDA drop dates have come and gone without so much as a single officially released.
Why is the man behind YEEZY Home decamping to, of all things, stadiums? The only thing we can be sure of is that’s no one’s entirely sure. Still, if Kanye does decide to crash at Soldier Field, he may make the above space — the visiting team interview room — his new abode.
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Remember that Mercedes-Benz Stadium, his previous venue and living space, renamed its Twitter “DONDA Studio” to acknowledge Kanye’s new habit, so it’s not like the stadium staff seems to mind.
There, he slept in a single-cot room from which he eventually live-streamed, so an unused locker room would be a pretty big upgrade. And perhaps the confines of stadium living, separated from the comforts of his usual luxuries, encourages Kanye to keep his nose to the grindstone.
Here’s a Kanye West subreddit Donda theory to think about today 🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/9nYtkeEXqM
— 𝗬𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦 (@YESEEGHOSTS) August 17, 2021
A few DONDA theories have been kicking around various Kanye fan hangouts, from the bleak to the thirsty but perhaps the most intriguing one posits that DONDA will never drop.
Instead, the album will remain under wraps forever, eternally tweaked by Kanye and his peers and only occasionally premiered in its latest iteration at the occasional listening event.
Hard to put a ton of weight behind the concept, of course, but it’s not entirely unbelievable. If Kanye is gonna keep beta-testing DONDA forever, he could find plenty of temporary studios that’re less comfortable than the many unused rooms inside Soldier Field. Plus, it’s only a stone’s throw from YEEZY GAP.