Kanye West unveiled his 10th studio album, Donda during a listening party Thursday night at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. After the event, Ye was honored by the city with a Kanye West Day.
According to reports, the City of Atlanta presented a plaque to the hip-hop star backstage. While West has always repped Chicago as his hometown, he was born in Atlanta and the city officially proclaimed July 22 Kanye West Day, per TMZ.
Yeezy’s latest album was named after his mother, Donda West, who died in 2007 at the age of 58 following plastic surgery complications.
For his listening party, the rapper-producer gifted 5,000 tickets to faculty, staff, and students from some Atlanta HBCUs including Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Spelman, Morris Brown, and the Interdenominational Theological Center.
The City of Atlanta declared Kanye West Day as a partial tribute to Donda.
Additionally, Morris Brown College President Kevin James was on hand at Ye’s album listening festivities and also paid tribute to his mother. Donda taught at the HBCU for nearly two decades and was chair of the English department.
As reported by TMZ, James presented an award to Kanye called the Dr. Donda West Meritorious Service to Morris Brown College.
Meanwhile, Ye has left fans disappointed because the album didn’t release on July 23 as scheduled. “Donda” was initially set to drop last year but Kanye delayed it.
Dr. Jan Adams, the celebrity surgeon who operated on Donda, previously spoke out about being scapegoated and enveloped in controversy after her death.
As previously reported by theGRIO, Adams said mistakes made by West’s cousin Stephan Scoggins following Donda’s lengthy liposuction, tummy tuck, and breast-reduction surgery are really what contributed to this tragedy.
Dr. Adams was cleared by the Los Angeles coroner of any wrongdoing in Donda’s case.
“I feel responsible totally, because I’m the surgeon and I’m the guy in charge,” said Dr. Adams in a 2012 interview with Entertainment Tonight. “But I’m not the guy to blame.”
“It baffles me when nobody wants to know the truth,” Adams said in an emotional interview with the NY Daily News. “I think (Kanye) should stand up and tell the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“Most people that I run into think she died on the table, they don’t even know this lady was home for a day,” he said. “The truth hasn’t been revealed.”
Donda was allegedly under the care of untrained friends who left her alone to go to a baby shower.
Ultimately, she wound up choking on her own vomit because she was allowed to lie flat on her back in bed, the doctor said.
“She aspirated the food contents into her lungs and that’s that,” he explained. “And four minutes later you’re dead. Jimi Hendrix, that’s how he died. It ain’t magical.”
West’s new project is a follow-up to his 2019 gospel-themed album “Jesus is King,” which won a Grammy for best contemporary Christian album.
This story contains additional reporting from theGRIO’s Blue Telusma and the Associated Press.
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