What Is Yandhi? Everything We Know About Kanye’s New Album

What a year it’s been for America, for the world, and for beloved rapper and self-declared genius Kanye West. We didn’t expect Ye to announce another LP after the five-albums-in-five-weeks, G.O.O.D Music bonanza that occurred earlier this Summer. At least not for awhile. Especially considering it’s since been confirmed that Kanye is hard at work on an album with Chance the Rapper in Chicago.

Kanye is predictably unpredictable. A week ago, West took to Instagram to announce Yandhi, along with the release date of September 29th, 2018. You can check out the announcement below (and feel free to notice the album’s striking similarity to the Yeezus cover art).

 

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A post shared by ye (@kanyewest) on Sep 17, 2018 at 8:44pm PDT

When you take a look back at the Yeezus album art (or rather, the absence of it), the resemblance is clear. But there’s no telling what Kanye has planned for Yandhi, which he’s reportedly trademarked ahead of the record’s release. According to The Blast, the name is going to be used to market everything that has to do with the record, jewelry, shoes, and more.

So think of Yandhi as more than just an upcoming Kanye West album. Think of it as a new iteration, or phase, of the man himself.

We think Yandhi will definitely include the already released, stand alone tracks we saw from Kanye this year: “XTCY“—which was cut last minute from Ye—and the Lil Pump featured “I Love It“. You can check out the hilariously strange video for “I Love It” below.

Kanye has expertly utilized his position as the Saturday Night Live season opener, and will be releasing Yandhi that same night. As a musical guest, Kanye has delivered some legendary performances (coincidentally, while promoting Yeezus). And after a huge year of working with the best in the industry, we think Ye is slated to give the SNL audience and viewership a night to remember.

Yandhi, announced just 10 days ahead of its release, hasn’t garnered much of a discussion. It appears that all involved were instructed to remain tight-lipped about it. But just because the Yandhi build-up has been relatively low-key—for Kanye, anyways—we think fans should get ready for yet another banger from, arguably, one of the greatest minds of his generation.

The Takeaway: Yandhi out September 29th. Catch Ye, and whoever was lucky enough to be called on, on SNL that same night. Hate him or love him, Kanye West is having a year.