Another new music Friday is upon us, and yet there is no new Kanye West album in sight. His tenth album Donda has now blown two proposed release dates, iTunes currently indicates it could drop on August 22, but who’s to say? The industry rumor is that, much like he did three years ago with his five-week Wyoming rollout, Kanye is trying to crowd (and thus, cloud) the release of Drake’s sixth album proper Certified Lover Boy, which he’s promised will come “by the end of summer.” (Evidence against this theory: insiders say Kanye and Drake have actually squashed their years-long cold war. Evidence supporting it: their entourages were openly chirping at each other on Instagram as recently as last week.)
The likelihood is that, if Kanye is angling for a release date showdown with Drake and gets it, he will lose—this is not 2007 and, Drake is a sales juggernaut unlike anything hip-hop has seen before. If Kanye wants to play a game he can not only win, but shatter records in, he should just keep hosting listening parties. Billboard reports that the most recent event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on August 5th netted him $7 million in merch sales, which might beat Taylor Swift’s per-show record for the Reputation tour in 2018, without the costs of actually doing a live show. (Kanye also set the livestream record for Apple Music, with 5.4 million viewers.) Fashion and sneakers are where he still does Graduation numbers, and if there’s one area he’s always mastered, it’s presentation. With more time to plan, the second Donda event was a much more impressive affair, with Kanye engaging in some kind of performance art on a stage setup that resembled the locker room he’d been tweaking the album in, with goth-looking performers dancing around to the changing moods of the music and their masked conductor. It all concluded with Kanye literally ascending to the heavens, soundtracked by the album’s new closing song, “No Child Left Behind,” in a visual that harkened back to his classic Yeezus poster.
Drake, no shots, can’t do that. Really, no other rapper can. Kanye may not do a million album sales (or the streaming equivalent) anymore but merch and presentation are fields he can’t be beat on. Word is MBS is finally kicking him out and he’s on the hunt for another stadium to haunt. What’s the over/under on a third listening event being scheduled for August 21?