Call Him Ye: The Demise, and Resurrection, of Kanye West

The atmosphere around Chicago’s Soldier Field was thick with anticipation yesterday evening as thousands of Chi-Town natives converged to witness a rare spectacle. To mark the release of his new album, Donda (after the artist’s late mother), Kanye West staged a homecoming spectacle in the city’s football stadium, inviting more than 40,000 fans to bear witness to his rebirth as ‘Ye.’  

The spectacle in question did not fail to amaze. In an eye-popping homage to his mother’s memory, Ye constructed a replica of his childhood home in the center of the field, an undertaking that —as a member of the crew told us—was initiated only a few days before. The album listening event commenced with a montage of clips of Ye’s most controversial moments to warm up the crowd, before the man of the hour stepped out of the house’s front door, clad in head-to-toe Balenciaga, and sporting one of his signature mesh face masks. 

What ensued kept the audience—even the likes of Dave Chappelle—on its toes. Ye invited a number of recently-’cancelled’ artists, from Da Baby to Marilyn Manson, onto the house’s porch, communing with them until smoke started drifting from its windows. The impact of Ye’s phoenix-like emergence from the flames could only be topped by the apparition of a ghost bride—yes, it was Kim Kardashian—who reaches a hand toward him just before the stadium lights cut out. 

The event, in true Ye fashion, left viewers with more questions than answers, solidifying his status as one of the most enigmatic and mesmerizing figures in pop culture today.