Kanye already made 12.5 million by postponing album

The three listening parties that Kanye West (44) has organized for his new album ‘Donda’ have certainly not done him any harm. According to an estimate of ‘Vice’, the rapper has earned 7.5 million dollars (6.4 million euros) from the first two release parties in Atlanta. ‘Billboard’ even thinks that the third listening event in Chicago on Thursday will bring the total to more than 12.5 million dollars (10.6 million euros).

Kanye was set to release his tenth album, named after his mother, in late July. He booked a stadium in Atlanta for a release party, but afterwards he announced that he still wanted to tinker with the record. On August 5, he gave a second listening party in the stadium, which was also not followed by an album. Thursday there will be another release party for Donda , now in Chicago, after which the new music will really come out, according to the rapper’s manager.

Although the 80,000 visitors to the first two listening events all bought a ticket, the merchandise sold during those concerts is the gold mine, Vice states . After deducting production costs and the fifteen percent that his manager withholds from his income, the rapper would still have $3.3 million (2.8 million euros) left on the shirts, sweaters and other goods sold during the concerts.