Kim Kardashian made a surprise appearance in a wedding gown at Kanye West’s latest ‘DONDA’ event in Chicago on August 26.
Kim Kardashian did much more than just support her estranged husband Kanye West at his latest Donda listening event on August 26. This time around, instead of just sitting in the audience, she got in on the action by taking center stage with him, while wearing a wedding gown. Watch the video below!
After previously holding two listening events for his new album in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium – which were attended by Kim and their four kids, — Kanye, 44, took the show to Solider Field in his native Chicago, delivering a spectacle that required no proof of vaccine or negative COVID test, but included recreating his childhood home in the middle of the stadium. And fans went wild when Kim showed up outside that childhood home in a Balenciaga Couture dress during the song “No Child Left Behind,” which was the final song of the night.
Does this mean they’re getting back together? That remains to be seen, but Kim filed for divorce from Kanye in February so their split could be finalized any day now. TMZ claims that Kim and Kanye are “forever family”, and “they have always supported the other’s endeavors and will continue to do that in the future, whether it be a collaborative effort or not.” Their source added, “Kim was happy to do it for Kanye and the event, which was so important to him.”
As for the music itself? Well, at this point, it remains to be seen if this is how Kanye (who recently filed paperwork to legally change his name from Kanye Omani West just “Ye”) will tour DONDA instead of the conventional way. Though Kanye hasn’t rapped or sung at these listening parties, it would be wrong not to call them performance. With distinctive costumes, unique sets, and emotionally charged music, the DONDA listening parties have been an experience.
These listening parties may also be the only way that DONDA could be performed live. The album – which could contain up to thirty tracks, per Genius – boasts more (unconfirmed) features than a DJ Khaled project. The Weeknd, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Baby Keem, Playboi Carti, Lil Durk, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, Chris Brown, Roddy Ricch, Jay Electronica, The LOX, the late Pop Smoke, Jay-Z, Don Toliver, Ty Dola $ign, Tyler, The Creator, and Snoop Dogg are just some of the names and voices that have popped up during these listening parties.
Jay and Ye’s reunion on DONDA marked the first time in five years that they were on the same song. Before that? The two worked together on 2016’s “Pop Style” by…Drake. In a case of odd timing, Drake, 34, and Ye recently reignited their longstanding rivalry. This latest clashing of egos began in July when Kanye collaborator Consequence tweeted, “We’re looking for the [Drake] drop date,” insinuating that Ye wanted to release DONDA the same day that Drake’s delayed/long-awaited album, Certified Lover Boy (h/t Complex.)
It would put the two albums in direct competition of each other, and be a way for Ye to (presumably) score a victory over Drake, since the hype for DONDA has dwarfed that of CLB. Less than a week after that tweet, Drake went on SiriusXM’s Sound 42’s Fri Yiy Friday to say that the album was done, “and that’s for anyone in the way.” Some interpreted that as a message for Kanye. During the second DONDA release party, Kanye had seemingly added some lyrics to “Junya” with Playboy Carti. “Move out of the way of my release/ Tryna get me off my Qs and Ps/ Why can’t losers never lose in peace? Ain’t nobody ‘round me losing sleep/ Better find God ‘fore he find me,” rapped Ye.
Drake seemingly responded in his verse on Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal,” rapping, “All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know/ Forty-five, forty-four (Burned out), let it go/ Ye ain’t changin’ shit for me, it’s set in stone.” Consequence, Kanye, and Pusha-T are all 44-years-old. On the same day as “Betrayal’s release, Kanye posted a screenshot of a group chat message (which supposedly included Drake?) on his Instagram. In the now-deleted post, Kanye had first posted an image of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. “I live for this,” he wrote. “I’ve been f-cked by nerd ass jock n—-s like you my whole life. You will never recover. I promise you.”
While this posturing might seem childish between two well-established artists, it has done wonders for hyping up Ye and Drake’s respective albums. As to when fans can finally listen to those albums? DONDA was initially set for a July 23 release date. It failed to make that deadline. A second release date was set for Aug. 6. It did not arrive then, either. The album’s Apple Music page listed it for Aug. 15, but that day also came and went without a new album. Ahead of the Chicago listening party, Kanye’s manager, Abou “Bu” Thiam, said that the album was done and would drop after the Soldier Field event, per Hypebeast. As of Wednesday, Certified Lover Boy has no release date.