KANYE DRESSES
UP MSG

At a heavily hyped event that married a fashion show and a record release party, Kanye West unveiled clothes that are modern, wearable and cool and what observers are calling a strongly impressive album that's decidedly hip-hop Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

Take a look here.

Kanye, wearing a maroon shirt with "I feel like Pablo" on his pocket and a black Yeezus cap, entered the area with Lamar Odom who joined a crowd that included 50 Cent, Method Man, Pusha T, Anna Wintour, Kris Jenner and a sea of Kardashians all in white furs. Melanie Griffith sat next to Caitlyn Jenner.

West was chatty—upbeat and positive—and when laughter filled MSG during one track from The Life of Pablo, he asked for total silence—and the audience responded respectfully.

Yeezy Season 3, streamed to theaters such as the Regal Cinemas in downtown Los Angeles, had the feel of a reality show. He invited people to dance when he played tracks, but the Regal crowd stayed seated, intent on listening to the new tracks from The Life of Pablo.

Themes of family, fidelity, marriage, love, money and God run through the album; Travis Scott, Future, Chance the Rapper, Rihanna, The Weeknd and Young Thug make guest appearances. Young Thug and Vic Mensa also played new music at the event.

"It's been a hard struggle, but I feel so happy, so much joy to be actually following my dreams without people shitting on me," he said.

West also debuted a video game where the basic concept is his mom entering the gates of heaven.

Cameras emphasized the clothes during the stream. Halfway through, expression-free models—including Naomi Campbell and Veronica Webb—who had stood atop two square platforms tired and sat down. The stream was technically flawless and the sound quality remarkable as the show bounced between Ye live on the mic and the new music. He started to play the music for a second time and the feed went out. Show over.

Update: we get the album today, for real though.

The album is being mastered and will be out today… added on a couple of tracks… pic.twitter.com/6lBxcd83N2

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 12, 2016

Reported by Michelle Santosuosso