DONDA 2
Ye ‘Weaponized Fame’ to Stiff Production Company $7M, Lawsuit Claims
Ye (Kanye West) is facing a new lawsuit that claims he owes $7.1 million in unpaid fees to a production company that worked on his Donda 2 release show as well as his canceled Coachella performance. In a complaint filed Thursday (July 14) in Los Angeles court, attorneys for Phantom Labs say the design and production firm “faithfully performed” the work requested by Ye, deploying “countless hours of in-house talent” and also making advanced payments to numerous other vendors. “Event after event, Ye and his representatives promised that if Phantom continued work on the budgeted and approved projects, Phantom would be paid promptly for the balance and the new work,” wrote Howard King, a well-known entertainment attorney who is repping Phantom. “More recent events have made clear that defendan...
Ye Sued Over Sample Used on ‘Donda 2’ Track ‘Flowers’
Ye is facing yet another copyright infringement lawsuit over his unauthorized use of a sample, this time on a track from his most recent album, Donda 2. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday (June 29), the rapper (referred to as Kanye West in the suit) sampled Marshall Jefferson’s 1986 house track “Move Your Body” (a.k.a. “The House Music Anthem”) on the song “Flowers” without gaining permission or providing compensation. The suit claims that the sample is “repeated at least 22 times throughout” Ye’s song. Filed by attorneys Christine Lepera and Bradley J. Mullins of the firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, the complaint was brought by Jefferson’s publisher Ultra International Music Publishing. Jefferson both wrote and performed “Move Your Body,” w...
Kanye West aka Ye’s ‘DONDA 2’ Is Still Arriving In Final Form, Allegedly
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Gotham / Getty The enigmatic, extended and elusive path toward the release of Kanye West’s 11th album, DONDA 2, continues. The announcement of a new soundtrack tied to the documentary on late rapper XXXTentacion includes a song that features Kanye West and is scheduled to be on the “proper” release of the aforementioned, mythical album. Donda 2 was technically released in late February, but it was only available via a Stem Player and it was not the completed project, with plans to release new songs in batches after an initial four songs. The initial singles for the project included “Eazy,” whose video featured Pete Davidson getting murdered and “City of Gods,” featuring Fivio Foreign. The critical reception to the album was tepid, and since it is sti...
With ‘Donda 2’ Stem Player Release, Kanye West Skips Streamers — And the Charts
After releasing 16 tracks from Donda 2 to his Stem Player last week, Kanye West is so far staying true to his promise to hold back the album from streaming services. The artist and entrepreneur, who now goes by Ye, reported $1.3 million in Stem sales via Instagram in the 24 hours after announcing Donda 2 would be released exclusively on his $200 proprietary hockey-puck-sized streaming devices, which allow users to remix songs as they listen. While new Stem purchases appear to come preloaded with 2019’s Jesus Is King, last year’s Donda and Donda 2, anyone who purchased the device when it was released last year can also upload the Donda 2 songs — or others — using their computer and a USB-C cable. Ye said at time of his Feb. 18 Instagram post that he had sold 39,500 Stem Players to date — fo...
5 Things You Didn’t See During Kanye West’s ‘Donda 2’ Livestream Event
Kanye West, now known as Ye, unveiled part of his forthcoming studio album Donda 2 during a one-night-only listening concert held Tuesday (Feb. 22) at Miami’s LoanDepot Park. The performance, which was simultaneously livestreamed at select IMAX theaters and via StemPlayer.com, featured a combination of music, art and fashion, plus special guests including Jack Harlow, Migos, Alicia Keys, and Marilyn Manson. Explore Explore Kanye West See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news During the nearly two-hour event, Ye performed fan-favorites such as “Eazy,” “Pablo,” and “City of Gods,” but he also debuted new tracks that, for the most part, spotlighted his fallout with ex-wife Kim Kardashian. “Sci-Fi,” for example, samples part of Kardashian’s 2021 Saturday Night Live ...
8 Things We Learned About Kanye West’s ‘Donda 2’ Album
It’s not a Kanye West release week without some Yeezy-orchestrated chaos. Less than six months after Donda‘s arrival, West is readying the release of the sequel album dedicated to his late mother. The Chicago-bred billionaire hosted an album listening experience debuting new music on Tuesday night (Feb. 22) at Miami’s LoanDepot Park. Explore Explore Kanye West See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Thousands of fans filled the seats in their Black threads and Balenciaga-engineered YEEZY merch mimicking the daily uniform of their hero, while those watching online via live stream listened along to Kanye’s heartbeat for two-plus hours awaiting the show’s start. The emotional rollercoaster of a night was a star-studded affair with Future, Jack Harlow, Migos,...
Kanye West Touts $1.3M in Stem Player Sales, Says Exclusive ‘Donda 2’ Release Sinks Apple Deal
After announcing Thursday that his forthcoming album, Donda 2, would be streaming exclusively on his branded Stem Player, Kanye West (now known as Ye) says he’s raked in over $1.3 million in sales over the past day alone. On Instagram Friday (Feb. 18), Ye posted that as of 11:09 a.m. PST he had sold more than 6,200 Stem devices in the past 24 hours, with sales totaling over $1.3 million. “Thats faster than I’ve ever sold any T shirt. God has a plan. New frontier,” Ye wrote of the sales figures. “Everyone that is supporting our revolution is changing the game for all artist. We no longer have to bow to people who don’t even truly care about music. I feel like I’m back at SOB’s performing Jesus Walks.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news At the time ...
Kanye West Says ‘DONDA 2’ Drops In February, Allegedly
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: @kanyewest / Instagram Kanye West has been a busy man of late. Along with the media attention-grabbing behavior including his takes on co-parenting and styling his rebound, Ye has been working on DONDA 2, and says it will be out in February. The “Power” rapper took to Instagram to make the announcement. Per Ye, the album will be out on February 2, 2022, and is also being executive produced by star Atlanta rapper Future. This is where we point out that Ye’s career is marked with a bunch of sequel albums that never actually came to fruition including Yeezus 2, Turbo Grafx 16 and Watch the Throne 2. This rather tight timeline also makes you wonder if Ye is going to throw any elaborate listening parties like he did for DONDA. Nevertheless, it wasn’t stopped h...
Artist Formerly Known As Kanye West Working On ‘DONDA 2’, Twitter Does What It Does
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty Kanye West aka Ye spent a gang of money to promote his last album, DONDA, with a numerous album listening events, pushed back release dates and a feature-heavy guestlist. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he is working on its sequel, DONDA 2. Complex first reported that music exec Steven Victor revealed that the artist formerly known as Yeezy was working on the project. “Ye has started working on his new masterpiece DONDA 2,” Steven Victor told Complex. But worth noting, many people have already pointed out that Ye has a suspect track record when it comes to proper sequels (remember Cruel Winter, the sequel to Cruel Summer?—never happened). Will it drop? Will it make the original’s recording budget look like a pittance? Will he ...
Artist Formerly Know As Kanye West Working On ‘DONDA 2’, Twitter Does What It Does
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty Kanye West aka Ye spent a gang of money to promote his last album, DONDA, with a numerous album listening events, pushed back release dates and a feature-heavy guestlist. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he is working on its sequel, DONDA 2. Complex first reported that music exec Steven Victor revealed that the artist formerly known as Yeezy was working on the project. “Ye has started working on his new masterpiece DONDA 2,” Steven Victor told Complex. But worth noting, many people have already pointed out that Ye has a suspect track record when it comes to proper sequels (remember Cruel Winter, the sequel to Cruel Summer?—never happened). Will it drop? Will it make the original’s recording budget look like a pittance? Will he ...
