Kanye West, Mother Honored Following Listening Party in Atlanta

 

Last night in front of an estimated crowd of 55,000 fans, and with his family in tow, Kanye West debuted
his latest album “Donda,” in the type of spectacle that has rarely been seen since the beginning of the Covid era.

Wearing a ski-mask and decked out in red from head-to-toe — a color scheme his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, who was in attendance for the event along with her sister Khloe — matched, West did his Kanye Best to sell his 10th studio effort named in honor of his late mother Donda West.

Videos of the event online, held at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, show a boisterous crowd and contain some snippets of the previewed tracks, including a verse from Jay Z  (see below) which fueled speculation the longtime collaborators have put their problems in the past following years of alleged feuding.

As to whether the project indicates a return to form for the “The College Dropout” mastermind or a drop-off remains to be seen. The album was set to drop at midnight but as of press time for this article Friday (3:45 p.m.) still hadn’t appeared on streaming services.

West, will have to wait to receive his Roses — if there are any to give — for his latest effort, but Atlanta made sure its native son’s mother was honored.

TMZ reported that the City of Atlanta officially proclaimed July 22 Kanye West Day and presented the musician with a plaque following the performance:

On top of that, and perhaps more importantly to Kanye ... Kevin James -- President of ATL's HBCU, Morris Brown College -- was also on hand to give Ye a token of appreciation on behalf of his mom, Donda West, who taught at the school for nearly 2 decades and was Chair of the English Department.

The award presented to Kanye is called the Dr. Donda West Meritorious Service to Morris Brown College. Donda started her career at Morris Brown, which was founded in 1881 and is the only HBCU in Georgia founded by Black people.

It must have been a nice moment for West who proved he hasn’t forgotten his roots by giving 5,000 free tickets to the listening party to several Atlanta-area HBCUs, including Morris Brown, and TMZ added that it was a moving one for the artist.

Our sources say his family was with him when he received the awards backstage, and he got super emotional about it.

 

 

“Made in the image of GOD, that’s a Selfie” - Jay Z

Kanye West & Jay Z did that! 🐐 🐐 #DONDApic.twitter.com/oGtBiZjXGr

— Akpraise (@AkpraiseMedia) July 23, 2021

LeBron James Joins Three Comma Club

LeBron James has definitely proven he is the NBA GOAT, when it comes to earnings while active as a player.

The superstar just became the first player to earn billionaire status while still chasing championships. 

Per Sportico reporter Kurt Badenhausen, James's $330 million earned in player salary since 2003 and $700 million dollars in endorsements — including high-dollar deals with AT&T, Nike, Beats, Blaze Pizza, GMC, PepsiCo, Rimowa and Walmart — put him firmly in the Three Comma Club.

It's a clear win for James against league icon Michael Jordan, with whom he is often compared to and debated about by fans for his actions on and off the court. 

It took Jordan, even with perhaps the most lucrative shoe deal in history, years after his playing career to amass his billion-dollar fortune.

This is just the latest win for James, who led the Los Angeles Lakers back to the championships in 2020 after a long drought and most recently his update of Jordan's seminal acting turn, "Space Jam: A New Legacy," taking first place this past weekend at the box office with $32 million in ticket sales.

Twitter Honors American Gymnast Simone Biles With Own Icon

  Simone Biles is the Twitter-certified “Greatest Of All Time”! 

The gymnast was honored by the social media company with her own GOAT icon Thursday, making the

24-year-old the first female athlete and first Olympian to be honored as such. The icon, featuring a gray goat in an orange leotard, doing the splits while wearing a gold medal, will crop up whenever someone uses the hashtags #SimoneBiles or #Simone through the end of the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 8.

Witness greatness
Tweet with greatness#SimoneBiles#Simone pic.twitter.com/M6RKzP3KB6

— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) July 21, 2021

The same day In Tokyo Biles demonstrated why she deserved the honor. On the training platform she nailed a Yurchenko double pike, a move so advanced and dangerous it has never been attempted by another woman at the Olympics before, in a superb illustration of why she has dominated the sport for at least half a decade if not longer, racking up 30 Olympic and World Championship medals along the way.

👀 @Simone_Biles just casually bringing her Yurchenko double pike vault to podium training! 🐐#TokyoOlympics #SimoneBiles pic.twitter.com/V6veMIHUzW

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 22, 2021