Good news for fans of Kanye West: His long-awaited 2020 album might finally be released in the second half of 2021.
Two years after West’s long-delayed last album, “Jesus Is King,” fans are now speculating that the rapper will be releasing his much-anticipated “Donda” — named for his late mother — as early as this Friday.
The rumored album drop would follow an “exclusive” listening event for a few close pals in Las Vegas on Sunday, NME reported.
Suspicions started swirling over the weekend, after web personality Justin Laboy, 29, tweeted that West had played the upcoming album for Laboy and Brooklyn Nets baller Kevin Durant, 32.
“Kanye played his new album for me & @KDTrey5 last night in Vegas,” said Laboy, stoking the trending Twitter fan frenzy.
He continued, “The production is light-years ahead of its time, and the bars sound like he’s broke & hungry trying to get signed again. Any artist who plan on dropping soon should just push it back.”
Rumors about when Kanye would drop the album then spiraled from Laboy’s tweets following the initial announcement, hinting at its release this week.
Laboy also heavily praised the artist’s upcoming album, “Kanye West album is really done. When it drops this week, we probably not going to listen to anything else for a while…” wrote Laboy.
Once the unconfirmed rumors began to circulate, a new series of rumors sparked — an exclusive listening party was going to be held in Las Vegas. Fans on Twitter and Instagram started to speculate and share any information possible.
By Sunday evening on July 18, photos of fans in line were being shared, seemingly confirming internet suspicions.
Possible contributors also tweeted about the rumored release. Teddy Walton, a music producer known for his work with Travis Scott, Bryson Tiller, Kendrick Lamar and on previous West albums, wrote “I’m glad to be apart of history.”
Various rappers are rumored to be featured on the album including, Lil Baby, Baby Keem, Post Malone, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, and Tyler, the Creator.
Footage of West with Tyler, the Creator in the studio also was tweeted out on Saturday, heightening the excitement.
Meanwhile, Kanye’s other peers, like his fans, couldn’t contain their excitement. Some are even publicly asking Kanye for the album.
The prospect of the release happening the weekend of July 23 even garnered attention from Rolling Loud, the hip-hop music festival. The fest’s official Twitter propositioned West to drop the album at the July 23 festival in Miami.
“Donda” was originally set to be released in 2020, but never came to fruition. Despite the delay with the initial release, fans can’t wait to see what the rapper has in store for them this time around.
West has yet to respond to repeated requests for comment about an official release date.