If building cars were easy, everyone and their mama would be doing it, and getting rich. But Kanye West is not your regular man, and just because he has zero experience in the field doesn’t mean that he won’t do it. Or at least try it.
Donda Industrial Design is a new endeavor from Ye, under the Donda umbrella, which, according to Complex, will expand the empire with anything from “furniture, vehicles, and more.” “Vehicles” in the plural, and as proof of that, Kanye and Smith released a teaser slash concept of one such vehicle. It’s called the Donda Foam Vehicle and, apparently, it’s made of foam – much like Kanye’s most recent and much-ridiculed foam sports shoe, but with wheels, a drivetrain, and everything that goes into a car to make it a functional vehicle.
“Donda Foam Vehicle,” reads the caption under the teaser photo. “Conceptualized, designed, manufactured in the United States. AMEN.”
It will take more than prayers to bring to market a new vehicle, even when you’re supreme genius Kanye West (his words, not ours) and you have close to $2 billion in net worth to back your efforts up. It will take double all this if you’re going to make it out of foam, of all things.
Sadly, the teaser being a teaser, it doesn’t include more details except for a grainy photo of the purported vehicle. It looks like a more streamlined, long-wheelbase Sherp ATV, the off-roader that Kanye imported all the way from Russia back when he was still living on a farm in Wyoming, and of which he had a dozen units. The Donda vehicle has a cab-forward design but with very little space for the actual cabin, since the wheels appear larger than the windows.
Given that Kanye is very close friends with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, word online has it that he might be relying on his help to bring the concept into reality. Under the assumption that rumors are true, that would mean that Ye is building an electric off-roader made of foam, or he strongly believes that he is. It’s either that or he’s trolling for publicity, and Ye’s long history would indicate the former: he really believes he can build the Donda Foam Vehicle.
Official statement from @DONDA regarding Steven Smith being appointed as Head of DONDA Industrial Design. pic.twitter.com/YjspgdATmd
— Photos Of Ye (@PhotosOfKanye) July 5, 2022