Kanye West returned to his hometown of Chicago for his third Donda listening party at Soldier Field on Thursday, a month since his first event took place at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
A centerpiece of the album listening party was a replica of West’s childhood South Shore home. As the event kicked off Thursday evening, West stood on the stoop accompanied by DaBaby and Marilyn Manson, swiftly resulting in social media criticism over their inclusion.
This is DaBaby’s second major event since stirring up controversy for homophobic remarks at Rolling Loud festival in Miami last month. During the festival, the rapper asked fans to shine their cellphone flashlights if they “didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that will make you die in two to three weeks.”
Manson is currently facing lawsuits from four women who claim that he sexually, physically and emotionally assaulted them. The singer was dropped from his record label earlier this year as well as two television roles in the wake of abuse claims from Evan Rachel Wood and other women. The singer has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Kim Kardashian, who is currently divorcing West, was also present for the final song of the night. Kardashian, dressed in a couture wedding dress, appeared for the song “No Child Left Behind,” which ended the night.
At the start of the event, which was live-streamed globally via Apple Music, West kicked things off with the album’s popular song “Jail,” which usually has featured a guest verse from Jay-Z. During Thursday’s event, a verse from DaBaby replaced it, seemingly calling out the controversy surrounding him: “I said one thing they ain’t like and they threw me out like the garbage.”
West has been promoting Donda‘s release since last year. Despite multiple listening parties and teases for release dates, his tenth studio album named after his late mother has yet to drop.
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