Kanye West treated his fans to a one-of-a-kind experience at his "Donda" listening event, but he also received a couple gifts after the show ... including one honoring his late mother.
According to our sources ... the City of Atlanta presented the rapper a plaque backstage after his performance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Kanye was born in ATL, and the city officially proclaimed July 22 Kanye West Day.
On top of that, and perhaps more importantly to Kanye ... Kevin James -- President of ATL's HBCU, Morris Brown College -- was also on hand to give Ye a token of appreciation on behalf of his mom, Donda West, who taught at the school for nearly 2 decades and was Chair of the English Department.
The award presented to Kanye is called the Dr. Donda West Meritorious Service to Morris Brown College. Donda started her career at Morris Brown, which was founded in 1881 and is the only HBCU in Georgia founded by Black people.
As we reported ... Kanye revealed his new album, named after his mother, Thursday night in front of a huge crowd that included Kim Kardashian and their kids, along with Khloe.
Our sources say his family was with him when he received the awards backstage, and he got super emotional about it.
The listening event also included one major surprise at the very end -- a collab with Jay-Z.