How Kanye West Owned Last Week: A Timeline

Yeezy Season isn't approaching, it's finally here. Kanye West finally premiered both his highly anticipated fashion line with adidas and dropped the first of his sneaker collaboration with the three stripes, all within the span of one week, all in New York City. This all comes after a GRAMMY broadcast whose best watercooler moments came courtesy of West's action move. The most polarizing man in pop culture had, quite possibly, the biggest week of his life, and as usual everyone is talking about him, a feat especially impressive this time, considering it was one of the busiest weeks across all vectors of pop culture.

Think he's taking too long to drop something with adidas? Here's one new shoe for release with two more on the way. Think he's faking the funk with this fashion shit? How about a successful US debut with Anna Wintour and Alexander Wang among those seated front row. Could care less about Fashion Kanye? Take one new song and a show-stopping performance in the brick temperatures of the Flatiron District with his G.O.O.D. Music brethren. Somehow Yeezus managed to dominate the Grammys and rise above the noise of both Fashion Week and All-Star weekend to land the biggest impact. Here's a breakdown of the activity that kept him splashed across front pages for something like eight days straight.

Kim throws the Yeezy hype into overdrive with this Instagram

​After a busy Friday evening that saw a flurry of unofficial pics hit the net, Kim confirmed the hype was indeed very real with this snapshot of several sneaker boxes designated for extended famous fam. She also revealed that this first wave of Boosts runs about a size too big.

Kanye saves the GRAMMYs.

​No one dominated music's biggest (read: usually boring) night from start to finish as much as Yeezus did. From the red carpet interview with Seacrest that resulted in a few instant classic quotes ("I call it thinking") as well as the news that he's executive producing Rihanna's upcoming album, to contributing to the broadcast's two best performances—one of which he used to officially debut the adidas Yeezy 750 Boosts, and of course providing the most talked about moment with his meta-gag stunt after Beck swiped Album of the Year from Beyoncé, Kanye basically created every talking point surrounding this year's show. Numbers don't lie: he was the most mentioned artist on Twitter during the show. Hopefully we don't have to endure another six-year awards show hibernation.

Kanye clarifies his meta Beck stunt at the E! Grammy After-Show

At first glance, it seemed as if Ye was simply executing one hell of a meta self-reference when he ran on stage during Beck's acceptance speech. But nope, as he clarified in a post-show interview with E! that ran almost seven minutes long, he truly did feel like Beyoncé got snubbed once again. Without this interview, the move would've probably been lightly referred to in the Grammys after-glow as a great joke, but this fully ignited Swiftgate 2.0, which would create an endless debate over award show ethics and "true artistry" across the following week. Also revealed: dude hates excessive branding. Take those mic flags off.

The Week of Nike Shade begins in the airport. Fresh from the Grammys, Yeezus was already buzzing with excitement for the week ahead, so much so that he impulsively ran up on some lucky guy strolling next to the Wests and offered to trade him adidas Yeezy 750 Boosts for the Nikes (Air Command Forces) on his feet. Strong, hilarious ("Do you see this coat?!") start to Ye week, in which he also clarifies his stance on Beck.

The Yeezy Boost display goes up at adidas' SoHo location

The official Bat signal that Yeezy Season had finally arrived, and in NYC: after officially premiering the kicks at the Grammys, addias confirmed that it was indeed game time. Without warning, a grand Yeezy Boost display appeared at the three stripes' flagship store in SoHo, sending local sneakerheads and Ye stans alike into a stop-and-gawk frenzy. Along with the ensuing confirmed Valentine's Day release date, it's enough to make a few uh, "especially committed" fans already start lining up despite no other release information.

All the relevant #Influencers recieve Yeezy Season 1 fashion show invites.

Even the invites had a carefully curated rollout. At roughly the same time, all individuals blessed enough to be on a DONDA mailing list received vaccum-sealed official invites, which turned out to be folded up white Tyvek jacket, containing all details for Thursday's season 1 premiere. Ye would later explain to us that the large letter three on the back of the jacket symbolizes the three years he spent "holding his breath" away from the runway.

Seacrest scores an on-air interview with Kanye where he defends his GRAMMYs actions.

Wednesday morning Kanye called into Kardashian family friend Ryan Seacrest's radio show for an extensive chat wherein he gave an update on the adidas line but most importantly, defended and explained his actions and comments towards Beck at the GRAMMYs/E's after-show. The best quote highlighted Ye's knack for converging all vectors of pop culture when he compared Beck's Album of the Year win to the most recent Super Bowl: "Somebody's gotta be mad Marshawn Lynch didn't get the ball."

The Big Day: Yeezy Season 1 premieres

The energy in the city Thursday afternoon was palpable, even for the uninvited peasants who could only gawk as the line for Ye's show built while others flocked to stream site theaters. And save an overwhelmed Nori bawling in the front row, the premiere went down without a hitch, with a surprising full bounty's worth of gear like military-inspired outerwear, distressed sweaters, and another sneaker, the lowtop YZY, in both black and white colorways. The front row alone consists of Kim, BFFs Jay Z, Beyoncé, and Rihanna, Puff Daddy and Cassie, Alexander Wang and most impressive of all, Anna Wintour.

New song "Wolves" is debuted

As if debuting an entire new collection and two more sneakers at once wasn't enough, the crown jewel of the Yeezy Season 1 premiere is its score: new Kanye music. Ye debuts "Wolves" featuring Vic Mensa and Sia, a dark, haunting track that apparently kicks off his forthcoming seventh album. While not yet officially released, a high quality rip from the show's stream made it to the net within hours.

Kanye assembles G.O.O.D. Music to help him shut down Madison Sq Park

Mere hours after his fashion show, Yeezus rose again amidst the brick temperatures of Madison Square Park for the first annual Roc City Classic, and he wasn't alone: the G.O.O.D. Music boys—Big Sean, Travi$ Scott, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T—hit the stage for both mini solo sets and group bangers like "Mercy," "Clique" and "Don't Like." Strongest alphet coordination stunt of all time: the whole clique were adorned head to toe in Season 1 gear revealed just hours prior.

Yeezus joins Drake onstage at his Sprite Irving Plaza show.

For a minute there, it looked like the ever-competitive OVO general was actively trying to steal his big homie's shine. First there was the short film, then the surprise mixtape/album, releases which basically bookended Ye's big day with adidas and his concert. Then Drizzy brought Kanye out at his own show at Irving Plaza on Friday, with a declaration of how much respect he has for him. And of course, Ye didn't come empty handed: he gifted Drake with a pair of Yeezy Boosts right there on stage

Yeezy Boost release day: hand-delivering sneakers at the adidas store.

No one could begrudge Kanye taking a Saturday morning off after silencing the skeptics on Thursday, and reaffirming his own rap crown next to the game's Young King Drizzy late Friday night. Nevertheless, on 750 Day there he was bright and early at the adidas flagship to greet some of those first in line waiting to pickup their boosts. The only thing better than actually scoring a pair through the adidas confirmed app: receiving them from the man himself. Ye showed up early at the flagship store and personally handed out a few pairs, with a rare smile on his face and all. Here's hoping the lucky few that received such an honor were actual fans of Ye and the sneaker, not merely thirsty re-sellers.

Dave Chappelle gets a pair of Boosts—right off of Kanye's feet

Despite a limited first run quantity of 750 Boosts, Kanye has maintained that he aims to stand by his earlier claims of making his adidas line more accessible and obtainable. Just how dedicated is he to that mission? Apparently Dave Chappelle wasn't on the Famous Friends first order mailing list, a slight Ye rectified by literally giving Dave the pair on his feet. Kim documented the charitable moment on her Instagram late Saturday night.

The surprise store cameos continue on Day 2.

The in-store appearance at adidas wasn't a one-off. Ye kept the cameos up with a surprise arrival at the adidas a standard store in Brooklyn, where it appears he not only interacted with fans, but actually helped them try on and as the photo above implies, even lace up the boosts. Fixing one metaphorical (but maybe so less so, in this case) pant leg at a time.

Kanye jokes permeate SNL 40, some of which, he's even in on

How's that for full circle? One week after the Beck events at the Grammys, several Kanye burns made the cut for SNL's highly anticipated 40th anniversary special, with the man himself briefly joining in on the fun in Mike Myers and Dana Carvey's "Wayne's World" sketch.

Kanye officially debuts "Wolves" at SNL 40

Apart from participating in skits, Ye took the stage for SNL's 40th anniversary broadcast to officially debut "Wolves," with Sia and Vic Mensa right beside him. In keeping with his previous SNL appearances, the performance was on another level of creative direction and execution.