On Sunday night in Upper Manhattan, in a display of controlled chaos that has by now become routine, Kanye West once again ignored a promised album release date, opting instead to play the work-in-progress for a hastily assembled congregation of true believers.

“Jesus Is King,” the rapper’s gospel-influenced ninth album, was originally slated for release on Friday, Sept. 27, according to social media and his official website; after the day came and went, his wife, Kim Kardashian West, said via a post on Instagram stories that the LP would arrive on Sunday. By Monday morning , no new music was commercially available.

Instead, West opted to spend the weekend hosting impromptu listening parties for the unfinished album in three cities — Detroit on Friday, Chicago on Saturday, New York on Sunday — sticking with the seat-of-his-pants rollout strategy that he employed for his previous two albums, “The Life of Pablo” in 2016 and “Ye” last year.