What it was like inside Kanye West's star-studded album listening party on a ranch in Wyoming
West invited 150 people to the event, according to Variety, which was one of the outlets that attended the listening party. The rapper reportedly flew a number of journalists and artists to Wyoming on private jets. Democraticizing access to the event, West also live-streamed the listening party on the free streaming app WAV with a multicamera broadcast.
Actor Jonah Hill, comedian Chris Rock, and West collaborators Nas, Kid Cudi, Pusha-T, and 2Chainz were among the notable people in attendance. At midnight on Thursday, the party gathered around a bonfire on the picturesque Wyoming ranch to listen to West's eclectic, revealing, and humorous LP.
Chris Rock introduced the album with a few brief jokes, crowd work, and commentary on West's role in the history of rap music.
"Hip-hop is the art form created by free black men, and no black man has taken more advantage of his freedom than Kanye West," Rock said.
Jonah Hill told Pitchfork at the listening party that West was "the one person who I have an unending childhood kind of fascination with."
"I still look at him like I'm a little kid, and he's a superstar," Hill said. "When I decided to come here, I thought, 'It's like if someone got to hear [Michael Jackson's] 'Thriller' in the middle of Wyoming.'"
Here are photos and footage of some of the notable people who attended the "Ye" listening party: