“Kanye loves developing and the creative process,” he said. West is creating a new clothing line called Yeezy Gap with the company. West’s collaborators, Mark Breitbard, global head of Gap Global, was at the show and said the whole “Donda” experience was typical Kanye. West, the protection he feels from his mother, who passed away in November 2007.Īnother of Mr. That epic beam in the sky, visible from various parts of Atlanta, represents, to Mr. A miles-high light circling the stage beamed from its center, out of the stadium and into the sky, a telegraph to the heavens. Five thousand dancers, some in bullet proof vests like his, encircled the rapper. Though the stage was sparse, other elements of the show made it feel, like Mr. From the monochromatically dressed dancers to the grandiose lighting and transitions, the show was particularly reminiscent of Balenciaga’s biblical-apocalyptic Autumn/Winter 2020 collection. Gvasalia would be able to travel to the United States from Europe because of Covid restrictions, but he was granted an exemption and arrived in the nick of time. Until a few days before the show, it was unknown if Mr. The creative direction for the evening was part of a collaboration with Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia, known for staging colossal fashion shows. He wore a black spiked Balenciaga jacket with military-style lug sole boots, and most notably, a bulletproof vest with his mother’s name - “Donda” - on it. West performed on a simple set with a bed, some weights taken from the room in the stadium where he has been living while finishing his album over the past two weeks. Most, however, just screamed their support and love for the rapper from their seats.Īs if staged from a Marina Abramovic exhibit, Mr. Other bold attendees tried to do the same throughout the night. Within minutes of his entry, a fan ran onto the stadium floor. start time, applause and cheers overtook the stadium, which was filled with over 40,000 ticketed guests. West walked onto the shockingly small, gated stage, an hour after the supposed 9 p.m.

Some wore cocktail dresses and diamonds while others wore sweats and caps. West’s audience runs the gamut in age, race and gender. A car with a large television screen parked on the street to stream the concert for fans who were not able to get inside. Some even laid out tables of bootleg Kanye T-shirts, caps and sweatshirts with his name and face on them.

“Kanye got that downtown traffic jammin,” one local tweeted.Īs fans approached the entrance, many dressed in Yeezy attire from his past collections with Adidas and Nike, several things came into view: A fire hose of people poured into the stadium there was so much security, you might have thought the president or the Pope was in town vendors with coolers of beer, liquor, water and Capri Sun got comfortable outside. Thousands of fans were on the way to listen to “ Donda,” his long awaited 10th album. ATLANTA - For the mile leading up to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which these days might be better known as Kanye West’s new home, cars crawled along MLK Jr.

Kanye listening party