Donda is Kanye West's tenth studio album, released on August 29, 2021. Its deluxe version has 32 tracks with a 2 hour and 11 minute runtime. The album has collaborations with artists including JAY-Z, André 3000, Vory, The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, Don Toliver, and more.[1][2]
Following an extended rollout that consisted of several different release dates and four listening parties across the U.S., the album was released on the morning of August 29 by surprise. The album was updated on September 28 and had a deluxe version released on November 14.
The album is named after his late mother Donda West who passed away on November 10, 2007. The album shares its name with various other ventures by Kanye, including the DONDA creative company, Donda Academy, Donda Doves sports team, and the Donda Sports organization (the latter was founded months after the album's release.)
Donda serves as Ye's follow-up to Jesus Is King in October 2019, and was followed by Donda 2 in February 2022.
Background[]
Previous unreleased projects[]
Immediately after releasing Jesus Is King (2019), Ye began working on his tenth studio album named God's Country (with "Wash Us In The Blood" serving as a single for that album.)[3][4] After that, Ye announced a project titled DONDA: WITH CHILD in the summer of 2020. By summer 2021, its name was shortened to just Donda. During that period, the Sunday Service Choir released two albums, Jesus Is Born (2019) and Emmanuel (2020). Ye also ran for president in the 2020 United States presidential election and later conceded defeat.[5]
Throughout the entire rollout, only one release date was announced by Ye himself, being July 24, 2020, in a tweet.[6]
Some songs on the album date back to studio sessions for Yandhi, Jesus Is King (2019), and DONDA: WITH CHILD. "Hurricane" gained notoriety for being a longtime-unreleased song with many different leaked versions with different artists on the track. The final version was released with The Weeknd and Lil Baby on it. "I Know God Breathed On This" and "Up From The Ashes" date back to Jesus Is King. "Off The Grid," "Keep My Spirit Alive," "Donda," "Lord I Need You," "Praise God," and "24" date back to tweets from July 2020.[6][7][8] There was also a snippet named "Donda" which went unreleased and is unrelated to the released song with the same name. An earlier version of "Believe What I Say" was also shared on Twitter in 2020.
As for album covers, there was an album cover that was posted on July 25, 2020, when the album was still named DONDA: WITH CHILD.[9] There was speculation the following summer that the album's cover art would incorporate art from Louise Bourgeois' 2015 collection Les têtes bleues et les femmes rouges, just months prior to the album's release.[10] The final artwork for the album is a plain black square, possibly alluding to the color being used for mourning (related to the album named after his late mother Donda West.)
Some singles preceded the release of the album, including "Wash Us In The Blood," which served as the lead single for the scrapped God's Country concept. Ye also dropped a single titled "Nah Nah Nah" (plus a remix with DaBaby and 2 Chainz) that were intended to serve as a theme song for his presidential campaign. Both "Nah Nah Nah" and its remix were taken down from streaming services in August 2021.
Ye's divorce with Kim Kardashian was a lengthy process that began in January 2021 and stretched up to March 2022.[11][12][13][14] This went on to be the subject of some lyrics on the album.
Listening parties[]
Also read: Donda listening parties
Though Ye teased his tenth album numerous times throughout the summer of 2020, it was arguably Consequence posting a video of Ye and Tyler, The Creator working together in the studio that marked the beginning of the final rollout stage for Donda.[15] Just days later, Ye proceeded to host a listening party in Las Vegas that was the first of four but the only to be to a private/invite-only audience. In late July 2021, a Beats ad aired that featured Sha'Carri Richardson also featured the track "No Child Left Behind."
Ye went on to host three better-known listening parties for the album between July and August 2021. The first two (July 22 and August 5) were hosted in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, while the last one was held in Chicago's Soldier Field. The first Atlanta show was the first listen to Donda for much of the public, as it was a large-profile event and livestreamed on Apple Music. For the entirety of the show, Ye walked around the flat, white center stage of the arena in a red outfit as the songs were played. "Jail" was the final track played at the show.
Amid mixed reviews of how the album sounded then, Ye moved into the stadium and continued to work on the album some more. The day of the second show, August 5, Ye had a muted livestream of him sleeping, working out, and working on the album in what some people joked looked like a "prison cell." He returned that evening to put on another show for the album, this one featuring him in an all-black outfit with dancers marching around an elevated stage. In the center of the stage was a recreation of what his room looked like in the livestream from earlier in the day. Both livestreams were once again broadcast by Apple Music. At the end of the show, he was lifted to the stadium ceiling with a harness as "No Child Left Behind" played. The way he was lifted made it look like he was floating up to the sky.
The second show in Atlanta brought mixed reviews once again, so Ye continued to work on the album. During this period, his longtime beef with Drake was re-ignited. This is when Ye made a series of posts on Instagram that included him posting an image of Joker in a groupchat and another having him leak one of Drake's home addresses. Drake's then-upcoming album Certified Lover Boy eventually dropped just days after Donda on September 3, 2021.[16] The proximity of release dates made it seem like a sales rivalry. The beef would end months after both albums' releases when the two decided to perform together at a benefit concert.
On the evening of August 27, Ye held what would be the last listening party for the album. The show notably featured a recreation of his childhood Chicago house in center stage, while the element of having dancers march around the stage was carried over from the second Atlanta show. Some features on the album, such as Shenseea, DaBaby, and Marilyn Manson, exited the house as their songs played. The show concluded with a dramatic performance of new song "Come to Life" that featured Ye being set on fire before being extinguished. Immediately after, "No Child Left Behind" played as a woman in a wedding gown walked towards the center of the stage and met Ye. Fans have identified this woman as Kim Kardashian, the woman that Ye was divorcing.
The album was better received at the end of the show, but the appearance of DaBaby and Marilyn Manson prompted controversy.
Release and changes[]
The album dropped on the morning of August 29, and at first, did not include "Jail pt 2" featuring DaBaby and Marilyn Manson, due to clearance issues for the former.[17] The issue was fixed within a few hours and thus the initial version of the album was out on streaming platforms.
Donda received an update on September 28, which added mixing changes but removed some artists' contributions to the album.[18] KayCyy was removed from "Keep My Spirit Alive" for no clear reason, and Chris Brown was removed from "New Again," possibly in response to his own complaints towards Ye about not having more presence on the album.
Deluxe version[]
After some new songs (plus the deluxe version of "Come to Life") debuted on the Stem Player device that shipped out in fall 2021, the deluxe version of Donda was released on November 14. The deluxe version shuffled the track list once more and added "Life of the Party," "Up From The Ashes," "Never Abandon Your Family," "Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2," and "Remote Control pt 2." Backing vocals from Tyler, The Creator were added to "Come to Life" and a line was censored on "Believe What I Say." Some other minor changes were made to the album as well.[19] Ye had teased the deluxe a few days earlier in a Drink Champs interview. KayCyy's contributions to "Keep My Spirit Alive" were re-instated, but not on the original, instead added as a new track titled "Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2."
Oddly, the Deluxe version tracklist is completely different from the original, mixing up the track sequence. It's unknown why this was done, but notably, more popular tracks such as Hurricane were moved to the top.
Track list[]
| No. | Title | Length | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Donda Chant” | 0:52 | |||
| 2. | “Jail” | 4:57 | |||
| 3. | “God Breathed” | 5:33 | |||
| 4. | “Off The Grid” | 5:39 | |||
| 5. | “Hurricane” | 4:03 | |||
| 6. | “Praise God” | 3:46 | |||
| 7. | “Jonah” | 3:15 | |||
| 8. | “Ok Ok” | 3:24 | |||
| 9. | “Junya” | 2:27 | |||
| 10. | “Believe What I Say” | 4:02 | |||
| 11. | “24” | 3:17 | |||
| 12. | “Remote Control” | 3:18 | |||
| 13. | “Moon” | 2:36 | |||
| 14. | “Heaven and Hell” | 2:25 | |||
| 15. | “Donda” | 2:08 | |||
| 16. | “Keep My Spirit Alive” | 3:41 | |||
| 17. | “Jesus Lord” | 8:58 | |||
| 18. | “New Again” | 3:03 | |||
| 19. | “Tell The Vision” | 1:44 | |||
| 20. | “Lord I Need You” | 2:42 | |||
| 21. | “Pure Souls” | 5:58 | |||
| 22. | “Come to Life” | 5:10 | |||
| 23. | “No Child Left Behind” | 2:58 | |||
| 24. | “Jail pt 2” | 4:57 | |||
| 25. | “Ok Ok pt 2” | 3:24 | |||
| 26. | “Junya pt 2” | 3:02 | |||
| 27. | “Jesus Lord pt 2” | 11:30 | |||
| Total length: | 1:48:48 | ||||
| Deluxe edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | “Donda Chant” | 0:52 | ||||||||
| 2. | “Hurricane” | 4:03 | ||||||||
| 3. | “Moon” | 2:36 | ||||||||
| 4. | “Life Of The Party” (with André 3000) | 6:31 | ||||||||
| 5. | “Off The Grid” | 5:39 | ||||||||
| 6. | “Jail” | 4:57 | ||||||||
| 7. | “Praise God” | 3:46 | ||||||||
| 8. | “Come to Life” | 5:10 | ||||||||
| 9. | “Believe What I Say” | 4:02 | ||||||||
| 10. | “No Child Left Behind” | 2:58 | ||||||||
| 11. | “Up From The Ashes” | 2:42 | ||||||||
| 12. | “Remote Control pt 2” | 5:23 | ||||||||
| 13. | “God Breathed” | 5:33 | ||||||||
| 14. | “Lord I Need You” | 2:42 | ||||||||
| 15. | “24” | 3:17 | ||||||||
| 16. | “Junya” | 2:27 | ||||||||
| 17. | “Never Abandon Your Family” | 3:27 | ||||||||
| 18. | “Donda” | 2:08 | ||||||||
| 19. | “Keep My Spirit Alive” | 3:41 | ||||||||
| 20. | “Jesus Lord pt 2” | 12:05 | ||||||||
| 21. | “Heaven and Hell” | 2:25 | ||||||||
| 22. | “Remote Control” | 3:18 | ||||||||
| 23. | "Tell The Vision” | 1:44 | ||||||||
| 24. | “Jonah” | 3:15 | ||||||||
| 25. | “Pure Souls” | 5:58 | ||||||||
| 26. | “Ok Ok” | 3:24 | ||||||||
| 27. | “New Again” | 3:03 | ||||||||
| 28. | “Jesus Lord” | 9:33 | ||||||||
| 29. | “Ok Ok pt 2” | 2:34 | ||||||||
| 30. | “Junya pt 2” | 3:02 | ||||||||
| 31. | “Jail pt 2” | 4:56 | ||||||||
| 32. | “Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2” | 3:41 | ||||||||
| Total length: | 2:10:52 | |||||||||
Notes[]
- "Donda Chant" features vocals from Syleena Johnson
- "Jail" features vocals from Jay-Z and Francis and the Lights
- "God Breathed" features vocals from Vory
- "Off The Grid" features vocals from Playboi Carti and Fivio Foreign
- "Hurricane" features vocals from The Weeknd and Lil Baby
- "Praise God" features vocals by Travis Scott and Baby Keem
- "Jonah" features vocals from Vory and Lil Durk
- "Ok Ok" features vocals from Lil Yachty and Rooga
- "Junya" features vocals from Playboi Carti
- "Believe What I Say" features vocals from Buju Banton
- "Remote Control" features vocals from Young Thug
- "Moon" features vocals from Don Toliver and Kid Cudi
- "Donda" features vocals from STALONE and The World Famous Tony Williams
- "Keep My Spirit Alive" features vocals from Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine
- "Jesus Lord" features vocals from Jay Electronica and Larry Hoover, Jr.
- "New Again" features vocals from Sunday Service Choir and featured vocals from Chris Brown
- "Tell The Vision" features vocals from Pop Smoke
- "Pure Souls" features vocals from Roddy Ricch and Shenseea
- "No Child Left Behind" features vocals from Vory
- "Jail pt 2" features vocals from DaBaby and Marilyn Manson
- "Ok Ok pt 2" features vocals from Shenseea and Rooga
- "Junya pt 2" features vocals from Playboi Carti and Ty Dolla $ign
- "Jesus Lord pt 2" features vocals from Jay Electronica, The LOX and Larry Hoover, Jr,
- "Remote Control pt 2" features vocals from Young Thug and Kid Cudi
- "Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2" features vocals from KayCyy, Westside Gunn, and Conway the Machine
Trivia[]
- Donda is Ye's longest album in terms of runtime. Ye's second-longest album, The College Dropout (2004), is 32 minutes and 35 seconds shorter than Donda (54 minutes and 39 seconds shorter than the deluxe edition of Donda).
References[]
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donda
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donda#Streaming_performance_and_updates
- ↑ https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/music/kanye-west-is-working-on-a-new-album-titled-gods-country/news-story/6ded79a60aabaee58c7901d57f9bac84
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1277630262248198144?s=20
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1279575273365594112?s=20
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1285433509142650881?s=20
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1285785408010252289?s=20
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1285813679510843394?s=20
- ↑ https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1287151490348412928?s=20
- ↑ https://ocula.com/magazine/art-news/louise-bourgeois-gouache-kanye-west-donda/
- ↑ https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/entertainment/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-divorce-marriage/index.html
- ↑ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kim-kardashian-files-divorce-kanye-west-n1258382?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
- ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56718074
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_West#Relationships_and_family
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/tyler-the-creator-kanye-west-studio-together-2995983
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Lover_Boy
- ↑ https://genius.com/Kanye-west-jail-pt-2-lyrics
- ↑ https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/kanye-west-updates-donda-on-streaming-services-removes-chris-brown-news.140023.html
- ↑ https://www.thefader.com/2021/11/15/kanye-west-donda-deluxe