The Kanye West circus continued on Thursday night — with a new added attraction: Watch Ye set himself on fire!
Yup, that’s right. At the latest in a string of “Donda” listening parties — this one, at Soldier Field in his hometown of Chicago — West set himself on fire in a blazingly bizarre stunt that, thankfully, was just that: a stunt.
The fireworks happened at the end while the rapper was in front of a replica of his childhood home that was used to symbolize his upbringing with his beloved late mom, Donda West, who inspired the title of her son’s 10th studio album — which once again was not released, as teased, following the event.
But the fire fiasco wasn’t the only trainwreck-in-motion moment at the listening party, which followed previous ones at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where West, 44, has reportedly been holed up to finish “Donda.”
There was also West’s 40-year-old ex, Kim Kardashian, appearing onstage in a white Balenciaga Couture wedding dress, as the estranged couple re-created their 2014 nuptials during “No Child Left Behind.”
And then there were the appearances by two controversial figures in Marilyn Manson and DaBaby. West brought out shock rocker Manson, who earlier this year was dropped by his label — and canceled by the rest of the music industry — after a number of women accused him of physically, mentally and sexually abusing them.
The rapper DaBaby — whose homophobic rant at July’s Rolling Loud in Miami has led him to be dropped from other festivals — also showed up, appearing to replace Jay-Z’s verse on a “Donda” track that was previously heard at the first Mercedes-Benz Stadium listening party.
Many fans seemed shocked by the beleaguered artists’ cameos, with one viewer snarking that “Donda would be so proud” and another tweeting, “I hear Cosby’s free these days,” a reference to sitcom star Bill Cosby, whose sexual assault conviction was overturned in Pennsylvania in June.
Another artist, Lauryn Hill, made a buzzed-about appearance, but only in a sample of her hit “Doo Wop (That Thing)” — from her 1998 classic “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” — on one of the “Donda” tracks.
Fans’ frustration was also evident, as they clamored to social media for a reason why the album still hadn’t dropped. An impatient critic requested, “Please for the love of god drop this album,” while another’s patience ran dry with the all-caps response, “OKAY? NOW WHERE IS IT?”
Meanwhile, one viewer, perhaps worn out by the trio of exceedingly grandiose viewing parties, concluded: “I have a feeling this album is gonna be overhyped.”
But at this point it’s hard to know if West’s album will ever come out — or if these stadium-size listening parties are just a way for him to rake in some big bucks from fans in the meantime.
