In classic Ye style, he plugged his iPhone into a janky auxiliary cord to play the world premiere of his collaborative album for more than 1,000 attendees at Wynwood Marketplace. (The album's official release date has been set for Friday, December 15; however, West has been known to delay releases at the last minute.) The star-studded stage featured Ty Dolla $ign, Chris Brown, Offset, Kodak Black, Freddie Gibbs, Lil Durk, Bump J, West's children North, Saint, and Chicago, along with Denzel Curry and game streamers Adin Ross and IShowSpeed watching from the pit.
On stage, for more than half the set, Ye's face was shrouded by a black headscarf, revealing only his eyes. Eventually, he changed into a black hood not unlike what a Ku Klux Klan member would wear if Klansmen wore black.
"We're the vultures," Ye said after introducing each artist on stage. Then came the first track, the title song "Vultures," which dropped only a few hours prior to the rave.
The crowd knew what was coming.
"How I'm anti-Semitic?" Kanye began a line.
"I just fucked a Jewish bitch," the crowd responded.
Cameron Baines, a fan in the VIP pit, stood by the verse, even after Ye made multiple anti-Semitic statements in 2022 and again amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
"He can't be anti-Semitic if he's saying he fucked a Jewish girl," Baines responded firmly when asked about his take on the line.
If that doesn't scream loyal stan, another fan, Tess Manhattan, flew down from New York City after reading a Reddit post that mentioned the possibility of the listening party in Miami. She spent $600 plus taxes on a VIP ticket midflight and booked a last-minute Airbnb for the night.
"I wasn't sure if the Reddit was true, but I was like, 'YOLO — this is what credit cards are for,'" Manhattan said, chuckling. "Someone had a heart attack at the airport, and then a guy next to me on the plane was holding a Yeezy Foamposite shoe, so I was like, 'These have to be signs.'"
Ye's second song repeated the line, "The industry don't like me," as he flicked off the crowd with a tender grin. This was a stark contrast from his next track, which featured the refrain, "Fight for goodness," with a bass-heavy, moody gospel melody.
Palm Beach native producer DJ Scheme opened the show at midnight with a mix of popular rap songs featuring collaborators like Ski Mask the Slump God and the late XXXTentacion and Juice Wlrd.
Despite the advertised midnight start time, Kanye West and Ty Dollar $ign didn't take the stage until 1:45 a.m.
Photo by Jesse Fraga
A few attendees grew impatient, shouting, "I have [college] finals in the morning!"
"They got school in the morning!" another fan shouted regarding North and Saint's presence on-stage.
The audience's synchronous chants about Kanye's firstborn made it clear it was North's night. Piercing screams erupted after each slight wave as the 10-year-old smiled and headbopped to Dad's bars.
Ye and Ty rapped only a handful of songs off the new album before exiting the stage at 3 a.m. with no explanation. (Ye did apologize that Playboi Carti got held up at the airport and couldn't make it in time.)
The house lights flicked on, and the event was over.
"Very Ye. Cut short, but hey, at least Kodak is out of jail," attendee Melanie Quinn quipped as she walked past a line of police cars pulling away from the venue.
Ye had teased possible pop-up locations for a few days, including the seemingly unlikely Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise and an unclear location in Italy, per social media and Reddit.
But Tony Bravado, a former partner with Univeral Music Group with ties to Tour Mogul, who helped produce the event, said the official venue at Wynwood Marketplace was the plan all along.
"My boy with Tour Mogul had this set up for two weeks," said Bravado, who lives in North Carolina. "I'm sure they were trying to throw people off and see us, the real ones show out."
