The proposed “multi-stadium listening event” for Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s purported joint album has been postponed. According to Billboard, both the listening event and the album itself have been pushed back from their original date, November 3. Billboard notes that this isn’t the first time they’ve been rescheduled, with the original release aimed at October 27. A report from earlier that month said they were planning on holding it at RCF Arena (formerly known as Campovolo) in Reggio Emilia; however, the date came and went without confirmation, and on October 23, Ty shared an Instagram post teasing the new date in November.
Before that, it was reported that the duo was looking for a distributor for their joint album, fielding five offers from different labels. Per Billboard, though, their grandiose plans are contingent on a lot of factors outside their control. They’d need weeks — not just one or two — to secure a location and insurance, plus enough time to promote the show — at least, much more time than they allotted with the October 23 announcement. Plus, arenas in Europe are currently engaged in football season — no, not the one with helmets and pads — so teams would likely be unwilling to rent out their arenas and risk damage to the fields, even if they were playing away games on the requested dates.
Truthfully, all this is less than surprising and at this point, I’m not sure who Kanye thinks he’s fooling. He doesn’t have an agent — and probably isn’t going to find another one after being dropped by CAA over his prior antisemitic statements — and he probably isn’t anywhere near liquid enough to assume the risk of putting all this on himself — again, because his bank accounts were closed in the wake of the above-mentioned bigotry, while the IRS simultaneously put a hold on him for unpaid taxes. Most importantly, his past erratic behaviors appear to have finally caught up with him, making him more of a liability in the eyes of business partners than a potential cash cow. You can only cry “wolf” so many times before the villagers turn on you, and Kanye’s been shouting wolves, lions, tigers, and bears for the past year. The jig might finally, well, and truly be up.