Kanye West stages midnight album party at design show

Rapper Kanye West staged a last-minute midnight listening party for his new album Yeezus at a design festival in Switzerland on Wednesday (12Jun13).

Announcing the bash at the Design Miami/Basel Fair just two hours before he appeared at Messeplatz Hall, West - who is expecting a baby girl with reality TV star Kim Kardashian - arrived and introduced himself as "a celebrity boyfriend".

He told the crowd, "I got my start in art," before revealing he dropped out of art school when he realized he wasn't talented enough, explaining, "I realized I would never be a great visual artist of the world, and started to worry that I would end up working at an ad agency - no offense to anyone who does that."

He then unveiled the first two tracks from his upcoming album, which he played from a laptop computer.

West performed a third track, the controversial New Slaves, and concluded the impromptu set by shaking hands with lucky audience members as they left the building.