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After having dropped an extremely successful debut album and an even more lucrative follow up, Kanye did something very bold for his third album. He challenged one of the biggest artists of that time, 50 Cent (whose next album was set for release on the same date) to a sales battle. Rolling Stone covered the showdown which garnered major attention from media outlets and fans alike. Kanye's album dominated 50 Cent's, debuting at Number 1.

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For the release of his fifth album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', Kanye opted to go down an alternative route with the use of content marketing. Under the mantra 'Good Fridays', Kanye began a series which involved dropping a free sample song every week in order to wet the appetite of his fans and create anticipation for the upcoming release. It clearly worked well as the album also debuted at number 1 and became one of the most popular/critically acclaimed albums of the century.

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For his sixth, and arguably most controversial album, Kanye went down a completely divergent route. The artist began showing projections of his debut music video from the album, 'New Slaves', on buildings all over the world; in cities such as New York, London, Berlin and Paris. This went on for weeks and understandably had a lot of people talking about the artist and ergo, the album. As you might have guessed, the album also debuted at number 1.

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Kanye West gave the world its first official taste of his new album on Friday night by projecting the new song "New Slaves" along with visuals on buildings across the globe. The video was projected at various times throughout the night on 66 buildings in cities including New York, Toronto, Chicago, London, Paris and Berlin. In West's hometown of Chicago, it was projected on a wall of Wrigley Field; in Toronto, on the Royal Ontario Museum; and in New York, Kanye's face appeared on the wall of a 5th Avenue Prada store, among other locations.

Kanye West Brings Out New Material at Surprise New York Show

The simple black and white image of West's face provided a striking context for the rapper's searing lyrics on race and materialism, which include the refrain "I know that we're the new slaves/I see the blood on the leaves."

The projections mark the launch of West's sixth studio album, which is rumored to be due out on June 18th. West has been unveiling new tracks in live performances lately, including the Met Gala and a surprise show at Roseland Ballroom on Wednesday night. He'll be hitting Saturday Night Live as musical guest tonight.

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Kanye West gave the world its first official taste of his new album on Friday night by projecting the new song "New Slaves" along with visuals on buildings across the globe. The video was projected at various times throughout the night on 66 buildings in cities including New York, Toronto, Chicago, London, Paris and Berlin.

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As if dominating the music industry wasn't enough, Kanye notably ventured into the world of fashion. In what was considered one of the biggest collaborations in fashion, Kanye teamed up with Adidas to create his Yeezy brand. It just so happened that he had married one of the most well known individuals in the world: Kim Kardashian. It would end up being through Kim that a lot of the marketing for Yeezy was carried out, possibly due to her 154 million follower count and insane outreach. His first 2 shoe drops became the most hyped in sneaker culture, and with very limited and spread out supply, the demand grew exponentially.

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'The Life of Pablo', Kanye's seventh solo album became one of the most talked about albums in music history. Kanye's approach to this one was more fan-oriented than ever, bringing back the beloved 'Good Fridays' series as well as updating the fans on everything to do with the album. Literally everything. It was here than Kanye really took off on Twitter, an app which would allow him to speak his mind freely, for better or worse. He would provide regular updates for fans, whether it was brainstorming album titles, sharing his personal financial circumstances and even asking fans for advice for track lists. For this album in particular though, Kanye utilised various marketing channels for promotion including an unprecedented album listening party at Madison Square Garden. He also created pop up stores across 22 cities, each one with a limited supply of album merch. These became so popular that they became ticketed events, with fans queuing for hours just for a hat or t-shirt. Furthermore, Kanye tweaked and changed songs on the album, even after its release describing the album as a “living breathing changing creative expression.” This meant sales continued to peak even after the initial release.

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With his tenth and most recent album release, Kanye changed the game once again. Donda might be one of the most delayed albums in recent memory, which was initially advertised for an early 2020 release date, and then was delayed at least a dozen times more. However, Kanye was very much on the ball during this time. Before anyone had even heard a song from the album, Kanye held three ticketed listening events in different stadiums, each one holding at least 40,000 fans and each one breaking the live stream viewing record for Apple Music. He also held pop up merch stores at the events, selling t-shirts for prices up to $120, which all inevitably sold out. Kanye had already made millions from the album before it had even been released. After well over a decade of using innovative marketing techniques to great levels of success, it appears Mr West has still got it.

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Kanye West who was born on the 8th of June in the year of 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States) is very much an American producer, rapper, as well as fashion designer who made a name for himself as a successful and widely lauded solo artist in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

West having grown up in Chicago, the son of a photographer & former Black Panther father and even a college professor mother. He studied at Chicago State University for one year before dropping out to seek a music career. He started his career as a producer earlier on, adding to Jermaine Dupri's album Life in 1472 (1998) before going to the New York City region, wherein he developed a reputation for himself as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, particularly on rapper Jay-album Z's Blueprint (2001). West's mastery of fast sample-based rhythms quickly made him a sought-after producer, but he battled to be permitted to produce his music, partly due to the assumption that his middle-class upbringing disqualified him as a rapper. Once he finally released The College Dropout (2004), it was a huge hit: sales surged, and critics praised the album's aural complexity and brilliant language, which merged humour, faith, insight, and political consciousness on songs like "Through the Wire" and the gospel-chorus-backed "Jesus Walks." He found a lot of success thereon.

West debuted the first "season," or collection, of his long-awaited fashion line, YEEZY, during February 2015 in collaboration with German sportswear company Adidas. YEEZY Season 1 included oversized sweaters, military and surplus-inspired coats, sneakers, boots, but more for both men and women.

West's design work extended within months leading up to the release of The Life of Pablo (2016), his eighth studio album; in fact, he revealed tunes from the album at the YEEZY Season 3 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. West's ingenuity as a producer was showcased even more on the gospel-tinged album, but many considered it fragmented. West was unusually quiet for a few months before making a daring return to social media around April 2018. Further, we have talked about how along with these successes he also made good money off Donda using creative marketing.

Kanye West introduced a new endeavour called DONDA on his Twitter account on January 5, 2012. DONDA will be a 22-division firm named following his late mother, with broad, overarching principles like "things and experiences that individuals want or can afford" and ambitions to "marriage our wishes and needs." Summer school with Spike Jonze, organizing the MTV Awards, and encouraging schools to give out free iPhones to students are just a few examples.

His selfless declaration was met with suspicion and mockery, to the point where OKFocus, a creative agency, established a phoney DONDA Twitter handle as well as the website, deceiving everyone from The Washington Post to Buzzfeed. After numerous credible news outlets reported on the "ridiculousness" and subsequently falsity of the DONDA project they established, Kanye issued a cease and desist letter to OKFocus. People acted as if DONDA was indeed a joke somewhere at that time.

Ever since, DONDA has been recognized with Kanye West's Cruel Summer film, our G.O.O.D. Music Complex cover, West's concerts at Revel in Atlantic City, West's Yeezus album marketing roll-out, & album and single covers for A$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Pusha T, Big Sean, and Theophilus London. DONDA's creative work thus far has been almost entirely music-related, comprising of hip-hop album covers, concert stages, plus music videos, another far cry from Kanye West's grandiose vision.

Kanye West has a reputation for being a marketing genius

While fans wait for his tenth studio album, he has been keeping them on their toes with a series of listening events. Donda was expected to come in 2020, but it never did. Yeezy had his first listening event at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22. There were 42,000 supporters in attendance. The Jasmine Brand reports that tickets ranged from 25 dollars to 100 dollars. With 3.3 million people who viewed, the concert set a new record for live streaming on Apple Music.

Fans expected Kanye to release Donda the following day, but he did not. Kanye conducted another listening event in Atlanta two weeks later. TJB claims that he beat his previous Apple Music live stream record with 5.4 million viewers, and those in-person goods sales earned almost 7 million dollars. According to the article, both events grossed between 1.5 million dollars and 2.7 million dollars each. Kanye earned an extra 350,000 dollars after his on-demand streaming in the United States climbed by 37 per cent.

On August 26, Kanye will hold his third hearing event at Soldier Field in Chicago. Donda was supposed to be released after the event, but it has been pushed back to September 3, the same day as Drake's Certified Lover Boy.

Kanye West had so far made a lot of money from 'Donda' even before it had been released

The Yeezy effect seems real, regardless of whether you like it or not. When we wait for DONDA to arrive, Kanye West has already made 7 million dollars from the album's retail sales.

From teases to leaks to listening parties and everyone in between, the anticipation for West's new album is at an all-time high. There is no doubt that fans all around the world are eager for a taste of new music because his first and second listening parties on Apple Music Global attracted a total of 8.7 million viewers. These are staggering figures, and so when Kanye is involved, huge money always follows large numbers.

What exactly is the enormous cash in question? Those lucky fans who were able to attend the Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium listening party proceeded to spend, with in-person retail sales reportedly bringing in 7 million dollars. The number matches the reported one-night sales of the impending red Yeezy x GAP jacket in a typical double or nothing manner. A simple glance at resale sites like StockX, Grailed, and eBay is all it takes to understand such a staggering statistic. Hip-hop merchandise is a significant seller.

Sales of hip-hop items are booming, allowing fans on opposite sides of the globe to show their support or wanted to be a part of a moment they otherwise would not be able to experience. The secondary market thrives where there has been demand, therefore it's reasonable to expect item sales from the biggest names in music to continue to soar.

While you are on the lookout for DONDA merch, we will keep you posted on the album's impending release.

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How Kanye West Made Millions Off Donda Using Creative Marketing - Your Daily Hunt

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Kanye West who was born on the 8th of June in the year of 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States) is very much an American producer, rapper, as well as fashion designer who made a name for himself as a successful and widely lauded solo artist in the late 1990s and early 2000s.