Coming off the US leg of "The Yeezus Tour", RocNation announces that the Australian tour dates will be pushed back from May 2014 to September 2014.
Due to unexpected timing requirements to finish his highly anticipated new studio album, scheduled for a 2014 release, Kanye West regretfully announces the postponement of his upcoming tour dates in Australia.
Talking to Rolling Stone, Kanye drops some lines from his upcoming single “All Day” and discusses possible release dates alone with missing an originally planned June 2014 release.
”I hope I can get one of these songs out in the next couple of weeks, just to have something up and running. But I think most likely September. I go back and forth. Like, should it be September or should it be October? Should it be November? … I was thinking it could somehow come out in June, like Yeezus, and just kill it for the summer. But then I'm like, I have to work on Adidas and be with my child.”
After teasing it the previous month to Rolling Stone, a rough version of “All Day” leaks. The audio is quickly scrubbed from blogs and news sites. Kanye’s previous commentary on the single to Rolling Stone:
Even lyrically, I think about certain lines that I say on my new single, which is called "All Day," that usually Jay would say, but Jay's not on there. So I say, All day, nigga, it's Ye, nigga. Shopping for the winter, it's just May, nigga. Ball so hard, man, this shit cray, nigga. You ain't getting money unless you got eight figures. Right? Jay would have said that.
As a part of a community service fulfillment, Kanye guest lectures a class at the L.A. Trade Technical College.
Via Complex, one student in attendance says says Kanye is waiting on the album to come out, implying that it may be completed and turned into Kanye’s label, Def Jam.
Complex: Did he talk about his new album?
Someone asked him about that, he said he’s waiting on it. He didn’t say anything else except that except that he’s waiting for it to come out.
According to an Instagram post from Kanye West collaborator Theophilus London, Kanye played his new album to an intimate crowd in Paris. No clear audio or video emerges.
Kanye discusses the work he's started work on his next album on Power 99. He also mentions the possibility of a "Cruel Summer" follow up, "Cruel Winter", and a "Watch The Throne" follow up.
“I haven’t named my next album, but I have started on it…I’d like to have another album out by next summer”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Seth Rogen explains how he got an exclusive listen of Kanye’s new album:
"There's no lyrics, only beats. So he raps the whole album, and after each song, he stops it, like, 'So what do you think?' We were in the van for two hours!"
Seth explained the story in more detail to Howard Stern here.
Coming off a contentious deal with Nike, as voiced on his Yeezus Tour, Kanye makes a move to Adidas. Adidas commented on the deal to WSJ below:
“For 2014, we welcome to the adidas family, one of the most influential artists of this generation – 21 times Grammy Award winner, Kanye West. He crosses music and fashion like no other, and together, with our history in fashion and streetwear culture, we will create a new chapter. Details to follow.”
ONLY ONE ft. Paul McCartney http://t.co/AolpyJ6ny5 http://t.co/45EiXLvcuf photo @inezandvinoodh pic.twitter.com/0Ci8OcApDq
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) January 1, 2015
Kanye starts of the new year with an uplifting song, a sharp departure from his last release Yeezus. Yeezy Season begins.
After previewing it earlier that day on The Ellen Show, Kanye West releases the “Only One” music video. As he tweets, it's directed by Spike Jonze with the concept by Vanessa Beecroft. Vanessa Beecroft later becomes a major part of "Yeezy Season 3", but that's getting ahead of ourselves.
After Kanye West previewed "FourFiveSeconds", a song with Rihanna and Paul McCartney at the iHeartMedia Music Summit on January 21, 2015, the official music video is released by Rihanna. It features the trio in a high contrast black and white style.
http://t.co/8T1uPQewkc 00:00:06:19:52:31:01
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 6, 2015
With a cryptic tweet and an equally cryptic website, "Yeezy Season 1" officially begins.
Kanye premiers his first clothing collaboration with Adidas, including the Yeezy Boost 750s and additional silhouettes. Available only in limted amounts, first through a reservation system, then through Adidas in-store only, The Yeezy Boost 750 sell out.
As anticipation for a new, as of yet unnamed Kanye project grows, Kanye debuts another song, "Wolves". Teased as "TRACK #1 ON KANYE WEST'S NEW ALBUM", the song features a much different and darker sound than the previous "Only One" and "Four Five Seconds".
Following up on "Yeezy Season 1", Kanye performs the haunting "Wolves" on Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary Special. Performing alongside singer Sia and Chicago rapper Vic Mensa, a break out moment for him, the performance is one of the highlights of the Special.
The banging new single, one many 'Ye fans had been waiting for, is premiered in over the top fashion with flame throwers and a stage full of hype men. The track features Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney.
So Help Me God pic.twitter.com/e3UUsQQEts
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 1, 2015
Fresh off "All Day", Kanye drops his album title along with its artwork, leading to an internet-wide search for the source. It's revealed to be a 13th century Monastic symbol for the Virgin Mary.
SWISH!!!! pic.twitter.com/qEyDXcN8Xj
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 16, 2015
Similar to his "All Day" reference, Kanye captions photos of his wife Kim Kardashian with the phrase "Swish", two months ahead of changing his album title.
VIC MENSA - U MAD featuring me http://t.co/Q0YFFn1JsP pic.twitter.com/zcXB13D90L
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 11, 2015
Following up on his feature and performance on Kanye's "Wolves", Vic Mensa scores a feature from Kanye for his lead single "U Mad". It's shortly revealed via Tidal metadata that Vic Mensa is signed to Kanye mentor Jay-Z's music and sports label Roc Nation.
I’m changing my album name to SWISH
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 3, 2015
I might change it again but that’s the name now
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 3, 2015
Foreshadowed by Kanye's "Swish!" tweets about his wife, the album is changed for the first time to "Swish". Kanye fan reaction is mixed as the album roll-out continues into it's fifth month.