Kanye West's Wyoming ranch party was a surreal hip-hop pilgrimage

By DJ Semtex, 4 June 2018

Last Thursday (May 31st), Kanye West gathered family, friends and those propelling rap culture around the world for a special listening party for his then-unreleased new record, ye. However, this was no ordinary press event - this would take place at a ranch in Wyoming, close to the secluded studio where the rapper recorded the album, with guests rubbing shoulders with hip-hop's elite, toasting marshmallows while hearing West's record for the first time. The entire thing was livestreamed online, with the campfire and wild horses looking like a live version of Kanye's Bound 2 music video.

1Xtra's DJ Semtex was one of the lucky ones to be invited to Kanye West's Wyoming ranch party, along with Rap Show host Charlie Sloth. Here's Semtex's inside account of what went down at the weird, wonderful event.

What most people don’t realise is that the journey to Wyoming isn’t an easy one, it's quite remote so it’s almost a day of travelling from the UK. Even when I was on the plane, I didn’t really know what I was going to arrive to. I didn’t know what we were going to see, what we were going to hear - nothing.

As soon as we approached the airport though, I realised why Kanye had brought us here, and perhaps why he decided to record the album in Wyoming in the first place. You land among the mountain ranges and the scenery is incredible, simply jaw-dropping. It’s like something out of a film or TV show, like Game Of Thrones or Lord Of The Rings. It’s all wildlife and nature - almost like the dawn of time, even the trees look different.

There’s hardly anything in Wyoming, apart from the beautiful scenery, and I guess Kanye needed that solitude. He had told me before that he didn’t like recording in New York or Los Angeles because there would always be people coming in and out of the studio, and just too many distractions. For 808s & Heartbreak, he went to Hawaii. For Watch The Throne, him and Jay-Z recorded in London. This was even more extreme - literally going to the middle of nowhere. He probably wanted an environment where he could get away from everything and get out whatever he needed to get out.

After travelling an hour down one of the roads in Wyoming, we pulled up at the ranch. I’d never been to a ranch before - this was all very new for me. There were horses galloping around in a pack, and then food, drinks and music playing in the barn.

Virtually every artist Kanye has worked with was there, as well as his friends and loved ones. Everyone from Chris Rock and Jonah Hill to Kid Cudi, Nas, Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Lil Yachty. Kim Kardashian was walking around too, just acting normal and taking photos with people (including Charlie Sloth). The atmosphere was so warm and personal that you didn’t realise who some of these people were at first. It felt more like a family reunion.

Obviously, a lot of the people invited were "influencers" or media-types, but there was no VIP area, no security pushing you out of the way, no PR people telling you what to do or what you could or couldn’t say. It felt like an organic, natural environment. There was a sense that everybody was trusted and that there were no limitations.

Just before the livestream started, myself and Charlie Sloth were around a bonfire toasting marshmallows - that was a nice moment. Then everything began. The album was only finished an hour before things kicked off. It was delivered directly to the ranch by Kanye’s producer, Mike Dean, about fifteen minutes beforehand. Everything was very last minute and I heard that there had been a different version of the album that Kanye had scrapped before starting again. Supposedly, he was nervous about how people would react and wanted people to like it. It’s strange to hear people talk about Kanye being insecure, that he would be worried how people would respond to the album. But he was and ye is one of his most personal albums yet, so it makes sense.

While listening to the album being played around the campfire, I was a bit like, "I need to listen to this by myself". It’s a very revealing record. There were moments of thinking, "did he really just say that?" Obviously, there were loads of friends there that had heard it in the making for several weeks prior. It was only afterwards, when I heard it back, that I got a real sense of the magnitude of what he was saying, how deep and personal the lyrics were. Even the cover itself referencing Kanye’s bipolar disorder is a massive statement - he’s letting people know what he’s going through. It’s a brave move and he’s not really talked about it before.

But hearing the album around the campfire felt more like a celebration. There was cheering and Kanye and his friends singing along. It was a very surreal moment - one of the greatest artists playing one of his most revealing albums in one of the most remote locations in the world. It was incredibly special and I don’t think I’ll ever witness anything like that again.

I don’t think Wyoming realised what hit them. The event nearly got cancelled just moments before the livestream because neighbours were complaining about the noise - because they had to get up early in the morning to do the farm work. The owner eventually agreed to let it go ahead as long as things were wrapped up by 11pm. It’s funny to be at a party that receives complaints because people have to get up early to work on the farm. I’ve never been in a situation like that before.

I spoke to Kanye before and afterwards and he was on great form. He’s in a good place. After the album was played, he was elated, over the moon. He just loved the reaction he got from everyone at the event.

There was no talk about Trump or stuff like that. I don’t agree with the comments he’s said in the press or on Twitter lately, but I wasn’t going to get into it with him like that. Maybe later, when we do another interview, we might talk about it then. This wasn’t the moment to do it though. This was about Kanye’s new music. It would have been like going to a family get together and trying to bring up something controversial - it wasn’t the time or the place. But I also feel like his music kind of explains all that, it provides a backstory to it - it’s all in the album.

There was an after-party at a cowboy bar, a proper venue for honky tonk music and square dancing. But, you know what, after travelling for a whole day to get to Wyoming and attending one of the most surreal events of your life, it kind of takes it out of you, so I didn’t end up making it to that.

Overall, Kanye’s Wyoming trip was probably the greatest listening party event that has ever been. How can he top this? I really couldn’t say. Kanye’s always prided himself on doing things differently and reaching for the highest, most unique way of doing things. He’s been innovative, he’s set trends, he has always defied normality, so I can’t even imagine what he’s going to do next. You just know it’s going to be off-the-wall.

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