"Broken Road" is a song by Kanye West that was released as the second track from his demo studio album, Donda 2 (2022). The song features vocals from Don Toliver. It was part of the first four tracks that made up the first batch of released Donda 2 songs on February 23, 2022.[1]
In the song, Kanye sings about his freedom from big corporations, controversially comparing himself to a homeless person.[2]
Background[]
The song was initially created on January 31st of 2022 and had at the time been titled "Nothing Wrong". Theophilus London would share a photo of Don recording for these sessions during this date.[3] At this point, the song had not featured any verses from Kanye and had simply featured just the hook from Don Toliver looped throughout the song, though it's not unlikely there is a version predating this.[4]
By February 2nd, the beat was completely reworked by MIKE DEAN and AllDay and now had a different hook from Don Toliver as well as a verse from Shenseea. Kanye had also recorded a rough freestyle at the end of the song.[5] Although this copy of the song was scrapped, the freestyle at the end of the song was repurposed into the song "Get Lost" and the beat was reused for the first version of it which had been a reference done by Fat Money.[6] Two days after this song had been recorded, a track list for the album was leaked with a track titled "BROKEN MAN" at seventh in order.[7][8]
Between the previous date and the 11th, the song's instrumental had only been experimented with, one notably being the Digital Nas copy of the song known for it's terrible clipping, unnecessary bass and randomly placed snares throughout the song.[9] On the 11th, the first writer's team demo had been recorded, featuring a more rock-like arrangement.[10]
After several people recorded reference tracks for the song, Ye finally recorded his verse around February 22, the same day as the Donda Experience Performance, which is where the song was first previewed.[11]
Lyrics[]
[Chorus: Don Toliver]
What does it mean to find your soul?
Pay the toll on a broken road
Pay the toll on a broken road
What does it mean to find your soul?
Pay the toll on a broken road
Pay the toll on a broken road
[Verse: Kanye West]
Baby, I'm free, baby, I'm free, like a homeless person
No matter how much you got, you can't own this person
Sometimes, I feel like the only honest person
When somebody snatch your soul
And karate didn't work
When you 'bout to lose all hope
The sun rose and opened roads
What if the surgeon really the serpent?
I paid for BBLs and Birkins
That wasn't me, that was Tyler Durden
I ain't gon' lie, I get tired of splurgin'
Love isn't perfect
Love is a version of bein' a virgin again
[Chorus: Don Toliver & Kanye West]
What does it mean to find your soul?
(I was told it's how you interpreted it)
Pay the toll on the broken road
(Pay the toll, pay the toll)
Pay the toll on the broken road
(Pay the toll, pay the toll)
What does it mean to find your soul?
Pay the toll on a broken road
Pay the toll on a broken road
What does it mean to find your soul?
Pay the toll on a broken road
Pay the toll on a broken road
References[]
- ↑ "Broken Road" by Kanye West. Genius. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ↑ https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.3839/title.kanye-west-donda-2-album-review
- ↑ u/dima_13 (January 31, 2022). "Don Toliver on DONDA 2". Reddit. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/909d444161d6b8920a526cda9aec4067
- ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/aacdc402135a7ef6af12077cc50c258a
- ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/c2e5b0708b18b8fd7b03032b520a17cd
- ↑ u/BOTTimmy (February 4, 2022). "Potential Donda 2 Tracklist Sighting". Reddit. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ↑ u/imnotlegendyet (February 4, 2022). "Decoded tracklist. Thanks to @sherman on the WSE Discord." Reddit. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/98ac4c42069b9f6b72d1bc4d1f90e2f7
- ↑ https://pillowcase.su/f/164eaed87a59ba80e4c9b8898e99fdb2
- ↑ https://plwcse.top/f/8976f0eac95fb7aa4f556d57948d6eb7
| Donda 2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|