At ‘Donda 2’ Miami concert, fans are split over Ye’s $200 new Stem Player
Fans of Kanye West braved a lot to get a first glimpse of his new album Tuesday at his “Donda 2” Miami show.
Crazed crowds trying to cop pairs of unreleased Yeezys. Jam-packed seating arrangements. Ticket prices upwards of $400.
But were Ye’s diehard fans willing to spend $200 on the Stem Player, a new device he says will exclusively stream his new album?
“I respect the future Ye but ehhh...,” said Natasha Gross, 39, her voice trailing off as she shook her head. “I just don’t think it’s accessible.”
A cross between an iPod and a musical production center, the Stem Player allows listeners to customize their musical experience by isolating a song’s vocals, bass, drums and samples. Purchasers can also play with the tempo, upload other albums as well as create and save mixes.
These various effects make it clear who West was targeting when he created the device, says Sem Davilma.
“This is for beginning artists,” Davilma, 24, said. “A lot of people don’t have time to break music a part.”
One such artist was 20-year-old Alan Espriella, who traveled from Chicago just to attend West’s premiere. Dressed in a Balenciaga Donda t-shirt and Yeezy Wave Runner 700, Espriella beelined right to one of the two Stem Player booths where he waited less than two minutes to snag a device.
“Every time I hear a song I love, I like to deconstruct it,” Espriella said. He believes the Stem Player will make that a bit easier. “I never heard of a single device that [cuts up songs] and layers it.”
The $200 price tag — $212 with tax — didn’t really bother Espriella, who called the Stem Player an “investment.”
Whether that investment is worth it is an entirely different question. In a recent interview with GQ, Alex Klein, who collaborated with West to create the Stem Player, emphasized that the cost is more than reasonable considering the capabilities in addition to “Donda 2.”
“You’re spending $200 for a revolutionary device that allows you to listen to music in a completely new way through stem separation, and that allows you to mix and make music on the go,” Klein told the magazine. “You’re also spending that $200 to become a part of a community that wants to change technology and music for the better.”
Still, similar to the skepticism that Nipsey Hussle faced for selling his “Crenshaw” mixtape for $100, much of the internet chatter surrounding the exclusivity of “Donda 2” — which missed its supposed to Tuesday release date — centered around its prospects of making the billionaire West even richer. That chatter rose to a din after West claimed the device had brought in more than $2 million in 24 hours.
“To earn the $2.2 million we made on the first day on the stem player the album would have had to stream 500 million times,” West wrote on a since-deleted Instagram post. “We did more revenue on stemplayer, without the album even being out, than we would have done with the album being out on streaming.”
Although it’s unclear how the Stem Player will affect album revenue, the hype around “Donda 2” might be enough to sway some prospective buyers. If the album is released as it was performed (which is always a pretty big if when Kanye is involved), the project would feature a star-studded cast including Future, Jack Harlow, Migos, Travis Scott and XXXTentacion.
Missing from West’s guest list, however, was Mola Dairo. As he stood outside loanDepot Park holding a sign that read “I want a verse on Donda 2,” the 22-year-old Dairo, known by his stage name Mola, praised West’s ingenuity. Not only, Dairo said, has the Stem Player been a source of inspiration — he already toyed around with some of his own music on his friend’s device – but, to Klein’s point, the possibilities are endless.
“Imagine we’re sitting down on an airplane,” Dairo said, the pitch of his voice rising with excitement. “We don’t have to put the thing on airplane or anything. No laptop. No anything. Pull out the Stem Player, we’re getting active right there.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 8:44 AM.
