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Donda 2 is a demo studio album by Ye, or Kanye West. It was intended to be his eleventh studio album. The album was first released on the Stem Player service on February 23, 2022, with subsequent updates further altering the album's songs and track list.[1][2] The album was executively produced by Future, who appears on some songs.[3]

Donda 2 is known for its distinct release style. To date, it has only been officially released for the Stem Player. The album also lacks official album art and official credits, leading fans to fill in those areas with fan art and speculation based on interviews and other media. Most listeners of the album have accessed the media through unofficial means, including pirating.[4]

The album was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews. Many claimed that the songs sounded incomplete for the most part.[5] These criticisms were joined by some claims that Ye was simply gaming people into buying the Stem Player device. Ultimately, Donda 2 would never see a full release outside of the Stem Player, and as of March 2024, the project can only be presumed to have been completely scrapped.

Background[]

Donda 2 is preceded by Ye's tenth studio album, Donda, which was released on August 29, 2021 after much anticipation. The album's reception was generally positive, with most of its critiques stemming from the fact that it had a long track list. A deluxe version of the album was released that November, adding "Life of the Party," featuring André 3000.

Ye appeared as a surprise guest at Future's set for Rolling Loud California 2021.[6] Later that same month, media showing him working with rapper Scarface leaked.[7] In the early days of 2022, Ye's manager Steven Victor revealed to Complex that Ye was working on "Donda 2."[8]

Most of the work on the album was done between January and February that year. There were recording sessions with the likes of The Game, A$AP Rocky, Future, and DJ Khaled. Also present in those recording sessions were celebrities such as Madonna and Antonio Brown. "Eazy," a joint single between Ye and The Game, was released during this period. "Hot Shit" may have been worked on around this period.[9] Ye also punched an obsessive fan and was briefly investigated by local police in January.[10]

Ye's partner at the time, actress Julia Fox, revealed Future's involvement in a podcast in mid-January.[11] Ye would go on to announce the album in a series of Instagram posts on January 27. He also made a pledge to not have his iPhone with him until the release date, something that he broke only days later.[12] Towards the end of the album's recording process, Vory, Don Toliver, and Digital Nas got involved.

As Ye went on Instagram tirades aimed against his ex-wife's boyfriend Pete Davidson, the singles "Diet Coke" and "City of Gods" were released, which contain production and a verse from Kanye, respectively. On February 17, Kanye announced the album would be an exclusive to his proprietary Stem Player device, which was priced at $200 at the time.[13] He justified his decision by stating it was an effort to work in favor of artists earning more money from their own music, as opposed to the relatively smaller earnings that they get from streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. In that same post, he shared an early snippet of the song "Flowers", and went on to share an early track list for the album not long afterward.[14]

The last event leading up to the album's release was the album's listening party which was named the Donda Experience Performance. Almost every song from the new album was played in the stadium's speakers and on the broadcast, but audio issues hampered the quality of the show. This made Kanye throw his microphone in frustration towards the end of it.[15]

Release[]

The album's original release date of February 22 was not met, but the first four tracks were released the day after. They were "Pablo", "Broken Road", "Security", and "We Did It Kid".[2] The rest of the album was released as "V2.22.22 MIAMI" on February 24, bringing the track total to 16 temporarily.[1] "Keep It Burning" was removed shortly after, bringing the album back down to 15.[16] "True Love" was also replaced by a less-popular version on release, only for that version to be replaced by the original through subsequent updates.

In a similar manner, The Life of Pablo was released as a service exclusive for Tidal, but that exclusivity was reversed within a matter of months.[17]

The album's exclusivity to the expensive Stem Player ($200 USD) was negatively recieved by fans and critics alike, leading it to become heavily pirated and illegally uploaded to streaming platforms such as Spotify.

The songs on the album were released with four-track stems, which lead to many fans remixing and creating edits of the album. Heavily-edited or remixed versions of Donda 2 tracks became the most popular versions on YouTube, with some gaining over a million views as the actual songs were taken down by copyright claims.

Post-release[]

See also: Donda 2/Unreleased

While the album would receive some updates following release, these updates would stop at a certain point, though songs from the album were continued to worked on. The album was also never released outside of the Stem Player service. Following controversies in late 2022, Stem would officially end their partnership with Ye. The album remains available for owners of the Donda Stem Player.

It's been speculated that Ye has moved on from the album's themes, and has likely scrapped the songs on the album entirely, which was only further fueled by the rollout of VULTURES 1, where no Donda 2 songs were present at all. Newer versions of Donda 2 tracks would leak over time, including "Too Easy", "We Did It Kid", and more, featuring new vocals from Ye. These files would have dates of March or April 2022. However, according to Rodri, several songs from Donda 2 were brough back for Ye's 11th studio album[18], although only "Flowers" was ever considered for VULTURES.[19]

On March 14, 2024, it was heavily rumored that Mike Dean had gotten involved with finishing Donda 2, and the release of the album on streaming platforms, and that Ye was planning to release his entire back catalog to streaming platforms. In May, a phone call between Mike and the Legendary Traxster was leaked, during which they talked about releasing Ye's entire unreleased catalogue, including Donda 2, on streaming.[20]

On August 3, VULTURES 2 released. One of the tracks on the album is "530", which was a fan-favorite unreleased song by Ye that was created during the Donda 2 sessions.

Songs updated after release[]

Songs that were updated on the Stem player after the initial updates.

  • "Flowers"
    • Updated on the Stem Player, on November 21, 2022, removing the "set me free" vocal sample due to copyright issues.
  • "Security"
    • Update quite later after release, on October 26, 2023, with an slightly different mix and for no apparent reason.

Released songs[]

Songs that were released separately from Donda 2, on digital streaming platforms.

  • "City of Gods"
    • Released as a single.
    • Released on Fivio Foreign's album, B.I.B.L.E.
  • "Eazy"
    • Released as a single.
    • Released on The Game's album, Drillmatic - Heart vs. Mind.
  • "True Love"
    • Released as a single.
  • "Keep It Burning"
    • Released on Future's album I NEVER LIKED YOU.
  • "Sci-Fi"
    • Released as "OXYGEN" on Sean Leon's album, IN LOVING MEMORY.
  • "530"
    • Released on ¥$'s album, VULTURES 2.

Track list[]

No. Title Length
1. True Love(feat. XXXTENTACION) 2:40
2. Broken Road(feat. Don Toliver) 1:40
3. Get Lost 2:35
4. Too Easy 2:58
5. Flowers 2:51
6. Security 2:16
7. We Did It Kid(feat. Baby Keem & Migos) 2:48
8. Pablo(feat. Travis Scott & Future) 2:34
9. Louie Bags(feat. Jack Harlow) 3:13
10. Happy(feat. Future) 4:45
11. Sci Fi(feat. Sean Leon) 4:00
12. Selfish(feat. XXXTENTACION) 1:39
13. Lord Lift Me Up(feat. Vory) 2:09
14. City of Gods(with Fivio Foreign & Alicia Keys) 4:16
15. First Time In A Long Time(feat. Soulja Boy) 3:04
16. Eazy(with The Game) 3:54
Total length: 46:45

Notes[]

  • This is the most recent version of the "V2.22.22 Miami" track list on the Stem Player.

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Corcoran, Nina, Minsker, Evan (February 24, 2022). "Kanye West Releases New Album Donda 2 on Stem Player". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Saponara, Michael (February 23, 2022). "More songs from Kanye West's 'Donda 2' released on Stem Player". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  3. Rose, Jordan (January 27, 2022). "Kanye West Reveals Release Date for 'Donda 2,' Which Is Executive Produced by Future". Complex. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  4. Donda 2. Wikipedia. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  5. Pierre, Alphonse (March 2, 2022). "Kanye West - Donda 2". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  6. Aswad, Jem (December 13, 2021). "Kanye West Makes Surprise Appearance With Future at Rolling Loud California Festival". Variety. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  7. Espinoza, Joshua (December 29, 2021). "Video Shows Kanye Jamming in Studio Alongside Scarface". Complex. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  8. Price, Joe (January 3, 2022). "Exclusive: Ye Has Started Working on 'Donda 2,' Says Steven Victor". Complex. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  9. Siegler, Mara (January 7, 2022). "Kanye West and Cardi B to shoot a music video at Miami Balenciaga store". Page Six. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  10. (January 13, 2022). "Kanye West under investigation for criminal battery... allegedly punched fan". TMZ. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  11. u/entrepreneur707 (January 13, 2022). "Julia talks about relationship with Ye. Says the songs he has with Future are insane". Reddit. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  12. Callas, Brad (January 29, 2022). "Kanye West Is Giving Up His Phone Until 'Donda 2' Is Finished". Complex. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  13. Shifferaw, Abel, Cowen, Trace William (February 17, 2022). "Kanye West Announces 'Donda 2' Will 'Only Be Available' on Stem Player, Passed on $100 Million Apple Deal (UDPATE)". Complex. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  14. Walker, Joe (February 18, 2022). "Kanye West reveals 'Donda 2' tracklist while celebrating anti-streaming 'revolution'". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  15. Lavin, Will (March 3, 2022). "Kanye West explains why he threw microphone down during 'Donda 2' event". NME. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  16. Watching the Throne (February 25, 2022). "Kanye immediately removed "Keep It Burning" from Stem Player | Donda 2". YouTube. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  17. Young, Alex (March 30, 2016). "Kanye West updates 12 tracks on The Life of Pablo, album available everywhere on Friday". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  18. https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/1eknolb/y3_info_dump/
  19. https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/1e3nnuz/flowers_was_the_only_song_from_donda_2_ever/
  20. https://www.reddit.com/r/GoodAssSub/comments/1cizitv/yzyjohnny_exclusive_leaked_donda_2_phone_call/

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