Among the many wild headlines that Kanye West managed to generate over the weekend — ones about MAGA hats and boxy costumes, for example — there were none about the release of his ninth studio album, Yandhi. That’s because, as you probably noticed, the project never materialized, despite Ye announcing last week that it would drop the night of his appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Ever the efficient wife/spokesperson, Kim Kardashian West set the record straight on Monday afternoon (October 1) by revealing the album’s new release date: November 23, a.k.a. Black Friday. “TRUST ME it is worth the wait,” she tweeted, followed by a string of fervent emojis.
Kanye later confirmed the date in an interview with TMZ on Monday, during which he also revealed his plan to finish recording the album in Africa. Describing Yandhi, Kanye said, “I started incorporating sounds that you never heard before and pushing and having concepts that people don’t talk about. … It’s just a full Ye album and those five albums I dropped earlier were like superhero rehabilitation and now the alien Ye is fully back in mode.”
The Chicago MC first teased Yandhi last month with a Yeezus-esque piece of artwork. On September 27, he tweeted, “We’re releasing Yandhi Saturday night,” adding, “We know it will come in number 2 to my brother Lil Wayne and that’s lovely. … The universe needs Ye and Wayne music at the same time.”
This will be Kanye’s third album this year, following the solo Ye and his collaboration with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts. Besides those projects, he also produced records for Nas, Pusha T, and Teyana Taylor. It’s clearly been a productive year for Kanye, but given his pro-Trump agenda and mounting backlash, maybe it’s good that Yandhi is being pushed to a time when we can all listen while simultaneously stress-eating leftover turkey and pie.
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