“I was pretty much the only person who was not invited by Kanye…”

On Friday, Kanye flew a bunch of real famous friends, family, and ‘influencers’ in from all over the world to bump his then-unheard eighth studio album ye around a campfire in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

It was meant to be an exclusive event, so how did a teenager without an invite get all the way into the listening party’s inner circle, and end up meeting Kim Kardashian West and getting Kanye's best? He talked that talk, man.

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“I’m a huge Kanye fan,” Connor Tacy told Gen and Lewis on triple j Drive. "I learned about it the morning that everybody learned about it. I’d already heard Kanye was in Wyoming and heard through a Pusha T interview he was staying at the Amangani Hotel."

The 17-year-old from North Colorado decided to try his luck and took the six-and-a-half hour drive North West (pun intended) to book himself into the same accommodation. First hurdle: rooms started at $1600 a night. “I definitely couldn’t afford that,” Connor explains, “but there was also another hotel on the property that had about $300-and-up rooms and I was able to book a room there.”

Second hurdle: Kanye’s people had booked out all the local hotels for the huge entourage he was flying in for the listening party, forcing Connor out for the night. Luckily, he bumped into Grammy-winning vocalist Tony Williams — who just so happens to be Kanye’s cousin (not the one that stole the laptop, that dirty motherf**ker).

“I spoke with him — he saw I was wearing a bunch of Yeezy clothing, Yeezy 500s, Calabasas hat, pants. He said ‘are you going to the listening party?’ I said, ‘no, I’m trying to get to it.’ He’s like, ‘you know what? I’ll get you on the list, I’ll get you in’.”



Even with the seal of approval from one of Ye’s collaborators, Connor was nervous about getting into the event. “I was already seeing how exclusive it was; [it was] just celebrities and social media influencers. That already made me realise I probably won’t get in.” But still, he wouldn't leave and even cased the venue — the Diamond Cross Ranch, located 45 min outside of Jackson Hole. “At that point it was about 2pm, the party started at 7pm. They were trucking in speakers and about every [9 metres] outside the event there were armed guards. I thought, ‘wow, this is going to be hard’.”

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RELATED: 'triple j Roundtable: Is Kanye West's ye worth the hype?'

Thankfully, Tony was true to his word. One wristband later and 15 minutes before guests being bussed in from the hotel began arriving, Connor made his way into the venue to take in the vibe.

“They had people handing out free drinks, two open bars, in the outside area they were still setting up the campfire. Also, they had a big barn structure and in there they had a buffet and free drinks.”

“I tried to speak to everybody I could there; Jonah Hill, Kid Cudi, Nas, Kim for a few seconds. I talked to a lot of people.”

So after a six hour drive, hotel-hopping, and hustling family members, Connor finally got to meed the man of the hour. And what did he and Kanye talk about? “How big a fan I was, the impact he’s had on my life. He was really appreciative and seemed really happy… I had goosebumps.”

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If you were streaming along, you'll know that the ye event was an emotional moment for its creator. A raw, sometimes intensely personal album being heard for the first time amongst collaborators, close friends… and Connor.

“I stood in a couple places during [the event]. Towards the beginning, I was a few people away; I think I was next to Kanye’s promotional manager. Then I was right behind 2 Chainz. They played the album about three or four times and towards the last couple plays I was pretty much right next to Kim. I don’t know how I got right in the inner circle.”

“It was so surreal seeing all these people online and in my music playlists for all these years and then being able to stand next to them. I was crying too at some points. It was so crazy.”

Connor loved being in Wyoming it was awesome.

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