In a few days Kanye West will be releasing his new album, the follow-up to last year’s Grammy nominated DONDA. While information about the LP remains at a minimum, West has just revealed that the album slated to arrive February 22 (Don’t hold your breath) will not be released on popular streaming platforms.
The rapper wants to promote his new Stem Player and will be releasing the album there instead.
“Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player,” Kanye announced in a new Instagram post. “Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube.”
Ye has always been anti-establishment and says he wants to free creators from its “oppressive system.”
“Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order,” he adds.
Kanye introduced the Stem Player last year as part of his album rollout for DONDA. The device costs $200 and enables users to make the listening experience truly unique by customizing individual song components.
Earlier this month, the artist now legally known as Ye talked about the importance of Black people taking back control.
“I’ve been waiting for us to take the power in our own hands,” Ye said during the Future Brunch. “I’ve been waiting to control our narrative. We need to empower local leaders and that’s our focus.”
“Our money is being made and goes back into a white system,” he continued. “Our 44 million (Black people and their spending power) is worth $1.8 trillion. That means the Black dollar is neck and neck with the biggest company in the world, Apple. With more focus, the Black dollar will be the biggest company in the world.”
Donda 2 is scheduled to arrive next week on Tuesday, February 22. A special listening event will be held on the same day at Miami’s LoanDepot Park stadium. Tickets for Ye’s Donda Experience are available here.
