Last Friday (November 3), Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign were supposed to debut their long-rumored collaborative album during a “multi-stadium listening event.” However, just two days beforehand, Billboard reported that the event had been canceled and that plans for the show had barely even materialized in the first place.
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Bizarre blunders like this are not new for West and his fans though, as many of his album releases are accompanied by rollercoaster rollouts and inconsistent messaging. But, now that we know the listening event has been nixed and we are still without a timetable for the LP, what should we expect next?
Well, in the days leading up to the “listening event,” both West and Ty Dolla were spotted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After spending weeks in Italy crafting the album, fans believed the duo’s presence in Riyadh meant that the “listening event” was slated to take place there.
Even after the event’s intended date passed, though, West and Ty Dolla have seemingly remained in the Middle East, and are still focused on crafting their joint project. The day after Billboard‘s aforementioned report came out, West was spotted working on music with Lil Baby in Dubai. On top of this, Ty Dolla and Baby were seen in a Dubai club together the next day.
If Baby was indeed working on music with West for his Ty Dolla collaborative album, this would be West’s second consecutive LP with a Lil Baby appearance, following up his feature verse on “Hurricane,” the smash hit fifth track from Donda (2021).
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Along with Lil Baby’s inclusion in the album-making process, West and Ty Dolla have also appeared to loop in Fred again..—the British singer, producer, and DJ best known for his work with Ed Sheeran. On Saturday (November 4), videos began to surface from a club where Fred again.. was performing a DJ set. In these videos, Fred again.. played “Slide” for the club’s crowd, a song by West and Ty Dolla that is rumored to be part of the impending LP.
The new “Slide” videos feature clearer audio and longer snippets than previously surfaced clips, where the song sees Ty Dolla’s smooth melodies complement West’s choppy raps.
Even with new information about other artists involved in the creation of ¥$ (placeholder name for West and Ty Dolla’s currently untitled project), there is still little known about the timetable for its release. And with West’s frustratingly cryptic tendencies, this is likely all by design.
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