Donda (album)
The initial version of Donda was initially set for release on July 24, 2020, under the title of God's Country, but experienced multiple delays and continuous alterations to its songs and tracklist prior to its final release. The album's style has been described as an amalgamation of hip-hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop, and incorporates elements of trap and drill. It is both minimalist and maximalist, with darker lyrical content and production in comparison to West's prior efforts, in addition to a reduced use of drums and complete absence of profanity. Themes explored include the convergence of West's Christian faith, righteousness, West's estrangement from his then-wife Kim Kardashian, and his late mother Donda West, to whom the album's namesake is dedicated.
Upon its release, West accused Universal Music Group of having released Donda without his approval, which the label denied. "Hurricane" was released as its lead single in September 2021, and was followed by both "Believe What I Say" and "Off the Grid" in November. The album polarized and divided music critics, particularly for its cohesiveness. Some noted an improvement from West's previous album and praised the composition, though numerous reviewers criticized the long runtime. Nonetheless, Donda was named by several publications as among the best albums of 2021, and became a nominee for both Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 64th Grammy Awards, while "Jail" and "Hurricane" won for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance, respectively.
Donda initially scored the most first-day streams for an album in 2021 on both Apple Music and Spotify. It stood as West's tenth consecutive number one release on the US Billboard 200, tying the record set by Eminem. It reached the summit in 18 other regions including France, Australia, and the United Kingdom, becoming West's first number-one album in the former country. It has platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and received gold certification in Canada and New Zealand by Music Canada (MC) and Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ), respectively. The appearances of DaBaby and Marilyn Manson generated controversy amongst audiences as a result of the allegations against them of homophobia and sexual abuse respectively. In October 2021, the Stem Player was issued, allowing users to remix the songs and adding new ones; this service was later discontinued the following year. The deluxe edition was released on November 14 and contained three additional songs, as well as two extended versions of songs already present on the album.
Background
During a conversation with French fashion designer Michèle Lamy in an Instagram Live stream on May 25, 2020, American cinematographer Arthur Jafa revealed that he was working on video material with West for a single from his forthcoming album, titled God's Country. On July 21, West confirmed the album title had been changed to Donda in honor of his mother, after whom he had also named his creative company. The album had its name briefly changed to Donda: With Child, which was later reversed. West announced a release date of July 24, and posted a track listing for the album. In the following days, West continued to post track listings, only to subsequently delete them. Ultimately, the album missed its planned release date. In September 2020, West sent out a series of tweets about his relationship with Universal Music, mostly addressing his desire to buy his master recordings back from them. The rapper asserted that these efforts were obstructed by his signed contracts, succeeding this by tweeting multiple images that supposedly showed the contracts.
Since his tweet that announces his 2024's run for presidency on November 4, 2020, West went radio silent for the entirety of the album's promotion; not saying anything on social media and wearing a full face mask in public. Information about the album and its listening events was relayed through fellow collaborators such as Consequence, Malik Yusef, Justin LaBoy, and Pusha T. West's manager Abou "Bu" Thiam teased the release of Donda on June 8, 2021, commenting on Gap's Instagram post announcing their jacket with Yeezy, "WestDayEver. Album OTW!" On July 17, Consequence posted a video of West in the studio with Tyler, the Creator on Instagram, suggesting a summer 2021 album release in the caption. On July 19, Pusha T announced on Instagram that West would be holding a listening event for the album at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on July 22. On July 21, West reinstated his Instagram account to share a series of images, alongside a commercial, featuring Sha'Carri Richardson, scored by the song, "No Child Left Behind", teasing a release date of July 23.
Recording
The recording sessions began a month after Jesus Is King was released. Producer BoogzDaBeast recalled that he was called in to Wyoming with West telling him "Man we're going back in, we're about to do a new album. Let's keep this going.". BoogzDaBeast came to Wyoming with 166 beats, which the producer clarified that they were mostly unfinished ideas. Of those 166 ideas, West freestyled over 99 of them in what the producer calls "That One Night in Wyoming". Songs such as "Wash Us in the Blood"–which was initially set for release on Donda in 2020, but was left off the final album–and "Lord I Need You" were originally conceived during said session.
In March 2020, West recorded new music in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before returning to Wyoming with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That same month, GOOD Music president Pusha T stated in a Discord interview that he had been recording with West recently. Pusha T was planning to meet with West on March 16, 2020, to complete a project, but cited "flights slowing down" due to COVID travel restrictions as the reason for a delay. On March 12, 2020, rappers Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine were spotted in Wyoming recording material with West. Westside Gunn would later confirm his collaboration with West in an interview for Elliot Wilson on Tidal, alongside recalling that they were set to travel to Cabo San Lucas after recording in Wyoming, until the COVID-19 pandemic canceled their plans. West held further recording sessions at Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming, which he bought for $14.5 million. The ranch spans over 6,700 acres, covering a larger area than the Monster Lake Ranch property in Wyoming that West previously bought. West flew Lil Baby out to Wyoming to record for Donda on July 22, 2020, following on from him tweeting, "Lil Baby my favorite rapper but won't do a song with me." The rapper ended up recording his verse for "Hurricane" after Kenyan-American rapper KayCyy suggested to him that he should contribute to it. In September 2020, West recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn at Gargamel Studio in Jamaica.
On March 8, 2021, Cyhi the Prynce stated in an interview with VladTV that West had resumed work on Donda amid his divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian. On May 30, West was joined in the studio by fellow rapper Playboi Carti. On June 14, 2021, court documents were obtained revealing that West was recording for the album in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he held sessions at Island Sound Studio, after reportedly "freaking out" during his deposition in an ongoing lawsuit with tech company MyChannel. Singer-songwriter Syleena Johnson worked on music in San Francisco around a month later, indicating via an Instagram post that she was collaborating with West. Speaking for Cocktails with Queens on Fox Soul, Johnson said she recorded the song "Donda Chant" as well as vocals for another track that ended up not getting used, in said session.
After holding a listening event for Donda at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021, West took up temporary residence in one of the locker rooms, converting it into a studio for finishing the recording and mixing with producer Mike Dean. Playboi Carti, Jay-Z and 2 Chainz joined West for recording in the room, with West posting a photo to Instagram of himself and the former there a day before the event. Jay-Z reportedly recorded his verse for "Jail" mere hours prior to the listening event. After failing to meet the album's scheduled release date of July 23, West continued to record and live in Mercedes-Benz Stadium up until the second listening party held there on August 5, 2021. 24 hours before the second listening event commenced, West and several other artists could be seen recording among doing numerous other activities during an Apple Music livestream.
Songs
"Hurricane" was originally previewed via Instagram by West in September 2018 and also leaked online, initially being intended for his scrapped album Yandhi. After the song was first previewed, it went through various iterations, with contributions from artists such as KayCyy, Big Sean, and American musician Ty Dolla Sign, of which the latter would feature on "Junya pt 2". However, none of their contributions made the final cut of "Hurricane", and they would be replaced with Lil Baby and Canadian singer the Weeknd. A song titled "Never Abandon Your Family" was previewed at the first two listening events for Donda on July 22 and August 6, 2021. Although the song was not included on the first version of the album, it later appeared on the deluxe edition. "Donda", which was initially titled "South Carolina" when previewed at the aforementioned listening parties, originally featured a verse where West traded bars with Pusha T. The verse contained references to West's South Carolina rally from his 2020 presidential campaign.
The song "New Again", featuring vocals from R&B singer Chris Brown on the chorus, originally included a verse performed by the singer that he later leaked, after publicly calling West a "whole hoe". Several critics expressed negative responses to West's choice to remove the verse, including the co-host of The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne tha God, that defined the verse discard as a "poor choice musically". On September 28, 2021, the song was updated on streaming services, with Brown being replaced by West and the Sunday Service Choir. Rapper Soulja Boy originally recorded a verse for the track "Remote Control", although he was not included on the final version of the song, being replaced with fellow rapper Young Thug. Following the album's release, Soulja Boy shared a snippet of his verse to Twitter, with the caption of the post reading, "Fuck Kanye". In November 2021, West apologized to Soulja Boy for removing the verse without informing him, though insisted he did so because it was bad. Fellow rapper André 3000 also recorded a verse for an unreleased track entitled "Life of the Party", which had been previewed at a listening event for Donda in Las Vegas. In the song, West disses Canadian musician Drake, who leaked the song in retaliation amidst a feud between them. André 3000 lamented the feud, stating that his verse was written before West's diss. The song was later released on the deluxe version of the album, with the Drake diss replaced by an alternate verse from West.
On September 7, 2021, DJ Akademiks shared a screenshot of a conversation between West and an unnamed engineer that worked on Donda, showing West firing the engineer after no response to his morning message to start work. On September 14, 2021, American multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren revealed he had recorded heavily for it and was tolerant of West delving into different subjects, but became frustrated with the rapper after a lack of feedback about his material. Rundgren also assumed it should be made clear if he can contribute or not and saw "a possibility" he is "actually in there somewhere" among the album's "junk", concluding by branding West "a dilettante". On September 24, 2021, after multiple artists had revealed that contributions to Donda from them were scrapped, West's sound engineer Nikolai Skrobat revealed that an upcoming playlist consisting of "forgotten tracks" from West's discography may include the album's unreleased material.
Music and lyrics
Donda covers the stylistic groundwork of West's previous albums; it has been described as a hip-hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop record, while the album also includes elements of trap, drill, boom bap, hip house, and rock. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood described it as a blend of Yeezus's rough industrial hip-hop, the "church-organ gospel" of West's previous studio album Jesus Is King (2019), the "gothic swagger" of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and the "bleeping" electropop of 808s & Heartbreak (2008). Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic perceived that "stylistic innovation has driven West's career" continuously, but he possibly "conceives of Donda as the album of his life—a capstone, an anthology". However, the album is unusual in his catalog due to its lack of drums, outside of a light amount of snares and occasional synth basses that imitate rhythm sections. Donda's integration of gospel music is more subtle than that of its predecessor, instead favoring the usage of trap beats and Auto-Tune. At Pitchfork, Dylan Green noted the production "jumps" from trap and drill to boom-bap and gospel, invoking GOOD Music's compilation album Cruel Summer (2012).
According to Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph, the album is a maximalist hip-hop record that follows a "more is more" philosophy through its "gleaming, swooping grooves and several kitchen sinks worth of production"; he noted how the grooves "go off" similarly to monster trucks moving loudly around a stadium. In contrast, Craig Jenkins of Vulture said that Donda's "unifying quality is a subtle minimalism", with prominent silence. Fred Thomas of AllMusic similarly opined that the album is built on "minimal arrangements that linger while feeling eerily unfinished". Jenkins also noticed West's diminished presence on the record, where he felt his "raps and hooks take up significantly less real estate" than any releases of his since Cruel Summer. In The Sydney Morning Herald, Michael Dwyer wrote that the "gospel flourishes of organ and voices" on Donda are elevated by "passionate yearning". According to TheGrio, its length of 1 hour and 48 minutes (1:48), follows the tendency of lengthier albums in the music streaming era started by Chris Brown's 2017 album Heartbreak on a Full Moon. Green said Donda contains "euphoric highs" with a lack of "connective tissue", observing "a data dump of songs searching for a higher calling". Gigwise writer Charlie Brock depicted that the album "ebbs and flows", being "melancholic and subversive" at some points, and "outlandish and snarling" at others.
Donda was inspired by religion, being themed around West's faith across much of the material. Some critics have described the album as sombre, with darker lyrical content than West's previous works. For Exclaim!, Riley Wallace asserted that it is a lot less clumsy than Jesus Is King and also a "more accessible body of work". References to addiction and mental instability are prominent, as well as Kanye West's ego and his family, including the collapse of his marriage with Kardashian and thoughts about Donda. Themes of hope, rebirth, and salvation are also present. Jon Caramanica wrote for The New York Times that in Donda, West continues to trade off the lyrical focus on self-awareness and wordplay of his earlier material for a more "terse and immediate approach, one that complements his musical shifts toward the industrial and the spiritual", which he started to do in the 2010s. In the same vein as Jesus Is King, Donda features no explicit language, with all expletives being edited out.
Songs
The album's opening track, "Donda Chant", consists of Syleena Johnson chanting Donda West's forename repeatedly for nearly a minute. It has been theorized by fans that the rhythm represents that of Donda West's heart beating. "Jail" follows and is the first full track, featuring Kanye West and Jay-Z combining metaphors about crime with details of marriage and sin. The track is a fusion of "maximalist hip hop", pop, and alternative rock, incorporating auto-tuned vocals and arena rock guitar riffs. The song contains almost no drums, until the last segment of the track brings a "brief, stilted drum pattern", described as industrial percussion. "God Breathed" has an abrasive, industrial sound that was compared to Yeezus, and features West offering redemption, reaffirming his trust in God before a wordless choir performs the outro. Playboi Carti and fellow rapper Fivio Foreign attempt to find a balance between faith in themselves and faith in God within their verses on "Off the Grid", later being followed by West providing a revelation of his religious mission statement in the closing verse and at one point, he dubs God "my bestie". The song has an intense drill beat, featuring a "melodically complex" bassline and a "sustained choir". "Hurricane" is an R&B song, with layered organs and processed choir vocals that are cut akin to a sample. West touches on personal issues such as his breakup with Kardashian and his house, while the hook sees the Weeknd exude confidence and Lil Baby provides a mournful performance. "Praise God" contains a vocal sample of Donda West proclaiming, "Even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night." Lyrically, the song features Baby Keem mixing "worship with the dark carnality of the mosh pit" and Kanye West connecting his issues to God's mysterious behavior. "Jonah" sees him rapping about his relationship with God, alongside fellow rappers Vory and Lil Durk opening up about their pain of losing friends and family members, respectively.
"Ok Ok" includes West commanding his status, while fellow rapper Lil Yachty boasts about sexual action. "Junya" is a tribute to Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe and features a skeletal arrangement of handclaps, organs, and heavy bass. It contains a Drake diss from West, with him alluding to Certified Lover Boy's delayed release. On "Believe What I Say", described as hip house, R&B, and soul, West offers a reminder to not let fame drag him down and references Kardashian. West and the Sunday Service Choir provide worship on "24", which features him delivering a message of hope in relation to God, backed by a discordant organ played by Cory Henry. "Remote Control" has an instrumental with a whistling hook over which West comments on technology and its infiltration of life, while Young Thug boasts about his property. On "Moon", rapper Kid Cudi provides a wistful performance. Throughout "Heaven and Hell", West lets out his thoughts on Jeff Bezos, vinyl, and modern culture. "Donda" contains a vocal sample of a speech by West's mother of the same name, who talks about him being a genius; the speech precedes a Christian worship moment from The World Famous Tony Williams. On the boom bap track "Keep My Spirit Alive", West claims to be anti-commercial and links his problems with the behavior of God. "Jesus Lord" is Donda's centerpiece and Kanye West details the story of how he changed from who he used to be in his verse, as well as questioning if he will go to heaven and see Donda there. Rapper Jay Electronica then offers a cryptic worldview based on various points, before the song ends with the son of gang leader Larry Hoover thanking West for taking his father's case to the White House of 2017–2021 US president Donald Trump.
Throughout the hip house track "New Again", West searches for salvation and showcases awareness of religion's trappings. The first version featured Brown crooning repentance for everything he will do again on the chorus, though the update replaced him with West and the Sunday Service Choir. "Tell the Vision" serves as an interlude and is an alternate take on the song of the same name from the 2021 album Faith by rapper Pop Smoke, who is the sole performer on the interlude. On "Lord I Need You", West goes in detail about divorcing Kardashian and at one point, he begs God to "wrap your arms around me in mercy". Within "Pure Souls", religious ideas are expressed and West declares there is a new version of him to adapt to, while Roddy Ricch wonders about truth on the hook. West sings about the emotional fallout from getting divorced on "Come to Life", alongside assuring that he is connected with God. "No Child Left Behind" is the album's final track before the second versions of songs and features Vory uttering the titular phrase in reference to the educational act signed by 2001–2009 US president George W. Bush, as well as West singing about the guidance and strength that he has received from God.
The last four tracks on Donda are either alternate or extended versions of preceding songs. "Jail pt 2" features an additional verse from DaBaby, who confirms his stance on gay people, complains about financial issues, and references his daughters. Singer Marilyn Manson also appears on the version, singing along with West at a few points. "Ok Ok pt 2" and "Junya pt 2" include further contributions from Shenseea and Ty Dolla Sign, respectively. Extra verses are performed on "Jesus Lord pt 2" by each member of the Lox, with them opening up about their connections to different gods.
Release and promotion
On June 26, 2020, West unveiled a collaboration between his fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap, and also launched the #WestDayEver promotional campaign on Twitter that accompanied announcements of different projects. One of the projects was a music video for the track "Wash Us in the Blood" that features fellow rapper Travis Scott, directed by Jafa; the video was released simultaneously with the song on June 30, following a teaser in which West officially announced the album's title as God's Country. The track was set to be included on Donda, but did not appear on the final track listing. On July 13, 2020, Kanye shared a snippet on Twitter of a song titled "Donda", which featured his late mother Donda West reciting KRS-One's "Sound of da Police" (1993) and was accompanied by archival footage, including the Wests rapping together. The song was replaced with another track also titled "Donda" on the final track listing. On September 26, 2020, West shared a 39-second snippet of the track "Believe What I Say" to Twitter. West later released a song entitled "Nah Nah Nah" on October 26, calling the song his 2020 presidential campaign's theme music; it includes him referencing his candidacy. On November 13, 2020, West released a remix of "Nah Nah Nah" that features fellow rappers DaBaby and 2 Chainz. After the original and remix were both removed from streaming services in the lead up to Donda's release, neither of them made the final cut.
On July 20, 2021, Audio products company Beats by Dre premiered a commercial during game six of the 2021 NBA Finals with athlete Sha'Carri Richardson, scored by West's track "No Child Left Behind". The commercial also showed the release date for Donda as July 23, 2021, and marked one of the first snippets of the music. French producer Gesaffelstein later revealed that he produced the song, marking his second time working with West after having previously contributed to the rapper's sixth studio album Yeezus (2013). Directly after the commercial's debut, Def Jam reaffirmed the album's release date.
In late July 2021, a representative for West announced a release date of August 6 for Donda, which was later confirmed via both a Beats by Dre commercial and West's Apple Music livestream. A day prior to this, a pre-order for the album was launched on iTunes, revealing it to feature 24 songs, along with a release date of August 27, 2021, before the date was revised to six days later. Conflictingly, Apple Music displayed the release date to be August 15, before one set for five days later appeared on the service. On August 20, 2021, the service listed a release date of August 28, one day after Donda's third listening party; Thiam reaffirmed that the release would come after the event. A day before the scheduled release, Donda's release date experienced another pushback on Apple Music, setting it to coincide with the release of Drake's sixth studio album Certified Lover Boy on September 3, 2021. It was speculated across social media that the delay was intentional to increase competition between the two artists.
On August 29, 2021, Donda was released by GOOD Music, distributed by Def Jam, succeeding several delays during that month. It stood as West's last release with the latter label, after his contract expired. "Jail pt 2" was originally not able to be played, showing up on the Spotify version of the album as an "unavailable" track, after DaBaby's manager had not cleared his verse prior to release. Hours after its official release, West claimed that Universal Music had released Donda without his approval and blocked "Jail pt 2" from appearing on the album. The song later became available on streaming services, including Tidal and Spotify. Universal Music denied having either released the album without West's approval or blocked the release of "Jail pt 2", with an anonymous source at the company calling his claims "preposterous".
On September 3, 2021, "Hurricane" was playlisted by Swedish mainstream station Sveriges Radio P3. The song was sent to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations by GOOD Music and Def Jam as the lead single from Donda on September 14, 2021. Following the album's release, the song entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number six, giving West his 19th top-10 hit on the chart. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for amassing 1,000,000 certified units in the US on January 10, 2022. "Hurricane" reached number 12 on the Swedish Singles Chart, with it debuting five places higher on the UK Singles Chart. On November 30, 2021, "Believe What I Say" and "Off the Grid" were released as singles to US rhythmic and urban contemporary radio stations, respectively, through Good Music and Def Jam. On the Hot 100, the former charted at number 28. "Off the Grid" debuted at number 11 on the chart, alongside reaching number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. On November 8, 2021, the song was awarded a gold certification by the RIAA for pushing 500,000 certified units in the US.
West purchased many large billboards to advertise Donda in Drake's hometown of Toronto during September 2021, outnumbering the ones used for Certified Lover Boy on the day of its release. A music video for "Come to Life" was released on September 2, 2021. The visual features footage from the album's third listening event at Soldier Field, showing West setting on fire then reuniting with Kardashian. A music video for "24" was released two weeks after the one for "Come to Life", and begins with footage from Donda's second Mercedes-Benz Stadium listening event of West ascending towards the sky, before he rises above the stadium and floats around among clouds. A clip for "Donda Chant" was shared exclusively to Instagram by West on September 19, 2021. The black-and-white visual incorporates aerial footage from the album's Soldier Field listening event that shows the replica of Kanye West's childhood home, on which flashes of old pictures of Donda are projected. On October 16, 2021, West performed a four-song set for Tiffany & Co. executive Alexandre Arnault and D'estree founder Geralde Guyot after their wedding in Venice, Italy, which included "Come to Life" and "Believe What I Say". He debuted a music video for "Heaven and Hell" during the College Football Playoff National Championship game on January 10, 2022. The visual has a night setting and shows people wearing new Yeezy Gap hoodies wandering around a city; it concludes with floating bodies spiralling through the skies.
