'Donda 2' listening party: Kanye West's album finally launches on Stem Player

Latest compilation was initially delayed after it failed to be released overnight

The release of Kanye West's 11th album, 'Donda 2', was delayed, frustrating fans. AFP

Music fans weren't happy as the highly-anticipated 11th studio album Donda 2 by Kanye West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, failed to be released overnight on the Stem Player as originally promised.

The follow-up compilation was set to appear overnight on the streaming platform, which costs $200 to purchase.

Fans took to social media following the delay.

“Kanye leaving the Donda 2 listening party in Miami knowing he has made 3 million on Stem players and the album is delayed,” tweeted user @ColesLeights.

Bayley White tweeted: “Waited nearly 5 hours for it to drop to be delayed and delayed to then it be cancelled and donda 2 ain’t gonna drop and no sign of a livestream for tonight.”

Someone joked they had gotten their Stem Player “ready to go” by showing a photo of a potato plugged in.

At the time of writing, the album had started to stream.

What is a Stem Player?

Earlier in the month, the rapper announced his new album would "not [be] on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube”. Instead, listeners would be able to access it exclusively via a Stem Player. The pricey device allows listeners to play four different track elements: vocals, drums, bass and music.

Ye launched the Stem Player last year in partnership with Kano Computing and shipped it with the first Donda album.

It allows users to manipulate songs using touch-sensitive sliders built into its shell. The device lets users control and isolate different elements of the song, and add effects.

There is also a real-time loop and speed control, and users have the ability to save, play back and download mixes.

The device is currently available in the US, the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Scroll through the photo gallery below to see Ye's style evolution over the years: