Kanye West just dropped a new Instagram post and, as usual, it's giving us a lot to unpack.
Hot off DONDA 2's (delayed) release on Stem Player, the rapper is taking the $200 music device a step further with "Stemwear," an accompanying clothing line.
Ye announced the project with a grainy shot of a model wearing a clerical-looking white shirt, constructed with a chest pouch for the Stem Player.
Vaguely interesting side note: the woman photographed in the shirt is none other than Simi Khadra of twin sister DJ duo Simi & Haze. Last week, Khadra made headlines after she was spotted kissing The Weeknd. Apparently, Bella Hadid unfollowed her shortly thereafter.
Anyway!
Ye's post very strongly suggests that we can expect another sartorial release from the rapper, whose YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga collection recently dropped on Farfetch.
It's totally unclear what purpose Stemwear will serve, other than functioning as a wearable carrying case for the Stem Player. Kano, the tech company behind the device, issued a rather vague statement on the project.
"Stem Player owners will be the first people to be part of this journey," Alex Klein, Ye’s technology partner and founder of Kano, told Highsobiety. "Go to stemplayer.com to join the movement."
Clearly, the gadget is a project close to Ye's heart.
He reportedly turned down $100 million to release DODNA 2 exclusively on Stem, a decision he explained in now-deleted social media posts proclaiming that it's time to "free music from the oppressive system" of streaming platforms, which often pay artists paltry royalties.
Shortly after announcing Stemwear, Ye posted a screenshot of a Medium post written by Liam Carter MacCormack — a self-described "Boston based artist and writer" with seemingly no other accreditations — christening the Stem Player the "biggest thing to happen to music since the iPod."
