Kanye West to step into the world of technology, files trademark
Yes Yeezy Tech here we come..or Donda to be exact
Kanye West may be set to step foot into a new venture, one that is neither fashion nor music.
According to TMZ, the Yeezy designer is looking to get into the tech industry as he has filed a trademark application to use the name Donda on his future products.
The outlet reported that the rapper is looking to use the brand name for electronics ranging from tablet computers, audio speakers to surround sound systems.
In addition, he seems to have taken a page from late Apple founder Steve Job’s book as he also wants to introduce a range of wearable technology like smartwatches, smart glasses, wearable activity trackers and protective flip covers for tablet computers.
It is pertinent to mention that Kanye has also filed paperwork to use the name on homeware products.
Kanye West’s new Donda Stem Player will apparently let you ‘customize any song’
Kanye West revealed a new music gadget called the Donda Stem Player that will let you “customize any song,” according to the device’s website. It’s available for preorder now for $200 with a vague “summer” release date, though the website says it will ship “with Donda,” West’s upcoming album.
Let’s get some of the gadget-y stuff out of the way first. The device, which West’s Yeezy Tech brand developed with electronics company Kano, looks like a little tan puck, and it’s apparently made of a “soft silicone blended skin.” It’s equipped with a headphone jack and Bluetooth support (and can do simultaneous Bluetooth and audio jack playback), a USB-C port, volume buttons, speakers, a haptic engine, and 8GB of storage. The four light bars are “touch sensitive light sliders,” which presumably let you control the device to customize songs. And it supports a wide range of music formats: .AIFF, .AIF, .FLAC, .M4A, .MP3, .WAV, .WAVE, .AAC, .ALAC, and .MP4.
As for what you can actually do with the Donda Stem Player, the website says you can:
Control vocals, drums, bass, and samples
Isolate parts
Add effects
Split any song into stems
The site also says it offers the following tools:
4-channel lossless audio mixing
Realtime loop and speed control
Tactile effects
One hits
Live samples
Save, playback, and share mixes
Customize colors
Content and software updates from your browser
After we published this post, we were tipped to somevideos that appear to show the Donda Stem Player in action (thanks, Vincent!). I recommend you watch them to get a better idea of how you might be able to use the four touch strips on the device to manipulate music. I personally have very little experience with music production, but based on these videos, I feel like even I could make something cool with the Donda Stem Player.