Kanye West Previews His New Album, Donda, at Las Vegas Church

During the event, which was only open to guests who registered beforehand, West reportedly played the entire album from his computer while wearing a ski mask. Attendees also said that West did not speak for the duration of the event.

“Yeah, it was a different experience for sure. It was a listening party for his new album and not a performance,” one unnamed source told Rapzilla. “Opened up with four piano players, kids, playing a musical intro. Then Kanye came up, opened his laptop and played the songs from there. Didn’t speak. Different but really cool.”

The source noted that one track was particularly “worshipful,” though they did not mention the track by name.

They said, “There was a track about how God has done miracles in his life. Was actually really worshipful. Had another track that kept saying ‘God-breathed on this’ which seemed to refer to an anointing on this particular album.”

In a video of Pastor Perez reacting to the event, he shared that the song “God Breathed” was his favorite track on the forthcoming album.

Perez also said that the event “was just awesome,” noting that he appreciated “the church and all the guests that came. It was a great event. Sometimes crazy stuff starts happening, and it didn’t happen here. It was respectful.”

On Thursday, West held an additional listening party for Donda, named for his late mother, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. 

 According to USA Today, the event sold out, with some 42,000 people buying tickets.

In recent years, West has shifted the focus of his music toward his Christian faith. In 2019, he released his first faith-based album, Jesus Is King. He would go on to release other faith-based albums under his own name and his Sunday Service Choir. Donda is reportedly a Gospel album, though photographer and digital producer Nigel D noted on Twitter that it does feature some explicit language.

Donda is expected to drop on Friday, July 23.

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Randy Brooke/Stringer

Kayla Koslosky is the former Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com.