Billie Eilish Accused Of Biting Kanye West's Listening Party Aesthetic

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Billie Eilish "Hit Me Hard And Soft" Album Release Listening Party
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 15: Billie Eilish performs onstage during "Hit Me Hard And Soft" Album Release Listening Party at Barclays Center on May 15, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for ABA)
Her new album release is just a few hours away.

Billie Eilish's new album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is due out tonight. It's expected to be one of the biggest pop releases of the year and could become a big deal when next year's award season strikes. Unsurprisingly, she's been teasing the album quite extensively in the past few weeks despite not releasing any singles from the project in advance. One of those promotional events was a listening party she hosted for fans at Barclays Center earlier this week. But the listening party reminded fans of someone else in particular.

Variety shared a video from Billie's newest listening party where she and her brother Finneas dance around stage as her new music plays to the crowd. In the comments, there's one name that keeps coming up, Kanye West. West has been fond of the listening party format for years now dating back to a high-profile trio of shows in the lead up to the release of DONDA. Even before that he once famously combined a debut of his newest fashion line with a listening event for The Life Of Pablo in 2016. It's worth noting that Kanye certainly didn't invent the listening party format but his increased use of it has causes fans to associate it with him. That's why multiple replies to the video accuses Eilish of ripping off West's format. Check out the video and fan reactions to it below.

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Billie Eilish's Listening Party Draws Kanye West Comparisons

West's listening parties haven't always gone over well with fans. Earlier this year he performed during Rolling Loud Los Angeles for a special Thursday show. Despite the festival hinting on social media that it would be an actual performance, the event was simply a listening party for the recently released VULTURES 1. Though it was an event packed with guests many fans still bemoaned the lack of an actual performance.

What do you think of Billie Eilish's recent listening party for her new album being compared to West's listening parties? Do you think her event was too similar to some of the VULTURES listening parties West has thrown this year? Let us know in the comment section below.

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About The Author
Lavender Alexandria
Lavender Alexandria is a music and culture journalist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s covered dozens of musical genres and styles from the most mainstream to the most experimental and underground on her blog and accompanying YouTube channel that looks at music, pop culture, and Billboard charts since 2017: Lav’s Music Corner. Lavender has produced editorial and listicle content both in written and video form over the past far years and has also interviewed up-and-coming artists like Censored Dialogue. Her experiences covering culture have taken her from Hyperpop parties in LA to underground rap shows in Atlanta, to DIY punk shows in Charlotte. Lavender has also written for iHeartRadio, covering some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop such as Ice Spice, Drake, Doja Cat and Cardi B. She also has bylines with ScreenRant and continues to write for Ringtone magazine. Lavender is a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and her favorite rap artists include Clipping, Little Simz, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kendrick Lamar.
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