DONDA

I don’t know who tuned in to Kanye West’s ‘Donda' listening party in Chicago last night, or woke up to the various reactions to it… but I’m here to share instead the upcoming ‘Donda’ Stem Player. In addition to dropping his 10th studio album, Kanye is releasing a new music gadget that will reportedly let you “customize any song.” The device is developed through Yeezy’s tech brand together with electronics company Kano, and it looks exactly like what you’d expect out of a Yeezy device (I can’t explain it…but here’s a pic of it on their website). According to the product description, you can “control vocals, drums, bass, and samples; isolate parts, add effects, and split any songs into stems” with the device. What fascinates me the most is the idea of allowing fans to directly manipulate music—maybe even for those who otherwise wouldn’t use a Digital Audio Workstation. It’s certainly a cool concept, so I am excited to see how it actually plays out! 

—Mimi Li, Development Assistant