The "Mercedes-Benz sessions" is the final Donda era that refers to Donda between July 9th and the official release of the album in August of 2021.
By this point, the album was in it's final stage and was referred to as it's final name "Donda" and all the songs on it are finished or were close to being finished.
Background[]
On July 7th, 2021, one of Ye's writers Malik Yusef posted that the album's sound direction had been changed completely following the Pio Pico sessions to what is presumed to be a more Gospel-surrounding sound, several songs having their lyrics changed like "Jail" to share the same topic of Christianity.[1]
On July 21st, the first release date for the album was established in a Beats By Dre commercial starring Sha’Carri Richardson and previewing the song "No Child Left Behind."[2] The album was set to release on the following Friday, and would be accompanied by a listening party in Atlanta that would be streamed on Apple Music.[3] By the time the listening party came around, however, the album didn't drop.[4]
By this point, Kanye had moved into the Mercedes-Benz stadium to finish working on the album until the second listening party came around two weeks later. Like the previous event, the LP went on but the album still was not released.[4]
Another listening party at Soldier Field, Chicago was later announced with the album set to drop the day after it. Once again, the album did not drop.[5]
The album had finally released on Sunday, August 29, 2021, almost two days after the final listening party.[6] Songs from these sessions continued to be worked on for the Deluxe that would drop November 14, 2021, only featuring three new songs and several remixes to songs already on the album.
Songs[]
Most of the songs by this era had already been worked on previously. New songs originating from this era consist of:
- Jonah (ft. Vory & Lil Durk)
- Donda Chant (ft. Syleena Johnson)
- Donda Outro (ft. Justin Austin)
- Moon (ft. Don Toliver & Kid Cudi)
- Flagstaff (ft. Baby Keem)
- Lose My Shit
- Ok Ok (ft. Lil Yachty & Rooga)
Tracklist[]
LP1[]
- 24 (ft. Sunday Service Choir)
- Donda (ft. STALONE, Tony Williams & Pusha T)
- Junya (ft. Playboi Carti)
- Remote Control
- Praise God (ft. Travis Scott & Baby Keem)
- Never Abandon Your Family
- Hurricane (ft. STALONE, Lil Baby & KayCyy)
- Moon (ft. Don Toliver)
- Jonah (ft. Vory & Lil Durk)
- Pure Souls (ft. Roddy Ricch)
- New Again
- Tell The Vision (ft. Pop Smoke)
- God Breathed (ft. Vory)
- No Child Left Behind (ft. Vory)
- Jail (ft. Jay-Z)
LP2[]
- Donda (ft. STALONE, Tony Williams & Pusha T)
- Moon (ft. Don Toliver & Kid Cudi)
- Praise God (ft. Travis Scott & Baby Keem)
- Ok Ok (ft. Lil Yachty & Rooga)
- Junya (ft. Playboi Carti)
- Jonah (ft. Vory & Lil Durk)
- Heaven and Hell
- Off The Grid (ft. Playboi Carti & Fivio Foreign)
- Remote Control (ft. Young Thug & Kid Cudi)
- Donda Donda Donda (ft. Syleena Johnson)
- New Again (ft. Chris Brown)
- Pure Souls (ft. Roddy Ricch)
- Keep My Spirit Alive (ft. KayCyy, Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine)
- Never Abandon Your Family
- Jesus Lord (ft. Jay Electronica, The LOX & Larry Hoover, Jr.)
- God Breathed (ft. Vory)
- Tell The Vision (ft. Pop Smoke)
- Jail (ft. Jay-Z)
- Lord I Need You
- Hurricane (ft. The Weeknd & Lil Baby)
- 24 (ft. Sunday Service Choir)
- No Child Left Behind (ft. Vory)
LP3[]
- Donda Chant (ft. Syleena Johnson)
- Jail (ft. Jay-Z)
- God Breathed (ft. Vory)
- Off The Grid (ft. Playboi Carti & Fivio Foreign)
- Hurricane (ft. The Weeknd & Lil Baby)
- Praise God (ft. Travis Scott & Baby Keem)
- Tell The Vision (ft. Pop Smoke)
- Ok Ok (ft. Lil Yachty & Rooga)
- Junya (ft. Playboi Carti)
- Believe What I Say (ft. Buju Banton)
- 24 (ft. Sunday Service Choir)
- Remote Control (ft. Young Thug)
- Moon (ft. Don Toliver)
- Heaven and Hell
- Keep My Spirit Alive (ft. Westside Gunn)
- Jesus Lord (ft. Jay Electronica & Larry Hoover, Jr.)
- New Again (ft. Sunday Service Choir)
- Jonah (ft. Vory & Lil Durk)
- Lord I Need You
- Pure Souls (ft. Roddy Ricch & Shenseea)
- Come to Life
- No Child Left Behind (ft. Vory)
References[]
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/11lpwa0/warryn_cambell_shares_a_story_about_donda_and_jail/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sK9WlPibfs
- ↑ https://variety.com/2021/music/news/kanye-west-confirms-donda-release-shacarri-richardson-beats-by-dre-1235024357/
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.newsweek.com/kanye-west-donda-every-album-release-date-delayed-watch-throne-life-pablo-1616126
- ↑ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/kanye-west-draws-thousands-to-soldier-field-for-donda-listening-party/2599812/
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donda