Kanye West, officially named Ye, has been a consistent point of contention for several years. Ever since the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident, in which he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video, West has been a problematic figure. Those old days look like kindergarten compared to now in terms of West’s public antics. With “Donda 2” technically already released, let’s look at this unconventional album rollout and the purpose of the Stem Player.
The background behind this album originally felt like the album rollout to the original “Donda.” Both rollouts saw West previewing collaborations and performing listening events. For “Donda 2,” a listening concert on the date the album was intended to release, Feb. 22, was performed at the LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. West debuted new songs from the album as well as tracks from 2021’s “Donda.” A chunk of the album was dedicated to West’s family life and divorce with Kim Kardashian. These themes coincide with West making his family issues known on Instagram in the preceding weeks, going so far as to post screenshots of text conversations with Kardashian. Things worsened when she began dating “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson. West would post statements on Instagram demeaning the actor and naming him “Skete.” Another shot he took at him was in the song “Eazy” featuring The Game, where West raps “God saved me from that crash / Just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.” West has also been erratically posting and then removing Instagram photos in unpredictable cycles. One day there will be a bunch of fashion posts and the next day everything will be deleted besides an advertisement of the Stem Player.
All of these elements have led to an intriguing album rollout that was sure to reel listeners in, but West had one more surprise up his sleeve. The only way to access the album is through the Stem Player. The Stem Player is a $200 portable speaker that works as a mixing board too. Using haptic technology, you can use your fingertips to touch the LED lines on the device to isolate certain sounds, such as the vocals or the drums. The speaker is a small rounded device with headphone jacks and Bluetooth features. The way to download the album is to plug the speaker into your computer, go to stemplayer.com and download. Without using traditional music streaming platforms, some fans feel alienated by the rollout decision.
David Goldhirsch, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, does not agree with West’s decision to release “Donda 2” on the speaker.
“I will not buy the player — it seems like a waste of money,” Goldhirsch wrote in an email. “I listened to ‘Donda 2,’ and it was just as unfinished as the first release. It needed to be much more refined.”
Reviews for the album seem to echo Goldhirsch’s comments. On Metacritic, a website that aggregates reviews, the current score for “Donda 2” is 48 out of 100 with a user score of 3.4 out of 10.
Some may call the Stem Player decision to be ahead of its time or a major inconvenience for fans who just want to listen to their favorite artist’s new album without dropping a hefty amount of cash. Maybe there will be a point where the album comes to streaming platforms, but for now, fans either use alternative means to access the album through online music sharing or buy the speaker. Knowing how the Stem Player works and its relation to “Donda 2,” it is up to you to decide, but either way, this rollout decision will go down as one of the most bizarre ones in music history.