It’s finally here. Kanye West has released Donda, his highly anticipated new album and his 10th solo LP to date. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify.
Spanning 27 tracks in total, the star-studded album boasts appearances from The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, Pusha-T, Young Thug, Jay Electronica, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Baby Keem, and Conway the Machine, as well as with Kanye’s former Watch the Throne collaborator JAY-Z and the late rapper Pop Smoke.
The album also tragically includes contributions from Marilyn Manson (an accused sexual predator), DaBaby (a homophobe), and Chris Brown (a domestic abuser). Manson is listed as a co-writer on “Jail,” Brown contributed to “New Again,” and DaBaby is featured on “Jail Pt. 2.”
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Named after West’s late mother, who passed away in November 2007 following a cosmetic surgery procedure, Donda was originally intended to be released on July 24th, 2020. A year had passed when, seemingly out of the blue, select friends and industry people were invited to a private listening party ahead of a purported July 23rd, 2021 release.
Afterwards, it turned out that West had set up a studio inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, working to finish up the album while haunting the arena like the Phantom of the Opera. The bizarre tale came to another twist on Thursday, August 5th, when Ye began livestreaming himself while, among other things, sleeping ahead of another listening party. Perhaps he forgot to set the alarm, because that date, too, came and went.
For his third listening party at Chicago’s Soldier Field, West upped the spectacle, while taking any goodwill he’d regained since his MAGA days and dumping it in the trash. Ye built a recreation of his childhood home, set himself on fire, displayed his ex-wife Kim Kardashian-West in a wedding dress, and most disturbingly, brought out DaBaby and Marilyn Manson — seemingly for no reason other than his unwavering commitment to the ideal that there is no such thing as bad press.
Kanye didn’t put out any singles before the album’s release, but he did preview Donda with a pair of commercials for Beats by Dre earbuds. These starred the American track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, and teased the songs “No Child Left Behind” and “Run to Glory,” respectively.
Donda serves as Kanye’s first full-length LP since releasing Jesus Is King in 2019. That album took home the 2021 Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and marked his 22nd Grammy win overall, tying him with Jay-Z for most Grammy wins by a hip-hop artist. Instead of celebrating the achievement, Kanye boycotted the awards ceremony — which, hey, is arguably a step up from literally taking a piss.
During his Jesus Is King era, Kanye got so absorbed by the culture surrounding religion that he became a born-again Christian and claimed he would never swear again. Kanye seems to be adapting that same stance with Donda, as curse words are noticeably censored throughout the album.
Along with recording a new album, Kanye has kept plenty busy lately with the launch of his Gap line, jumping on Pop Smoke’s posthumous album Faith, and making his way into the Smithsonian’s 129-song anthology of rap box set. He’s aso gotten back to the board, producing Lil Nas X’s single “Industry Baby” and Abstract Mindstate’s reunion album, which is the first LP fully produced by Kanye that was not his own since Common’s Be in 2005.
Donda Tracklist:
01. Donda Chant (feat. Syleena Johnson)
02. Jail (feat. Francis and the Lights and JAY-Z)
03. God Breathed (feat. Vory)
04. Off the Grid (feat. Fivio Foreign & Playboi Carti)
05. Hurricane (feat. Lil Baby & The Weeknd)
06. Praise God (feat. Baby Keem & Travis Scott)
07. Jonah (feat. Lil Durk & Vory)
08. Ok OK (feat. Fivio Foreign, Lil Yachty & Rooga)
09. Junya (feat. Playboi Carti)
10. Believe What I Say
11. 24 (feat. Vory)
12. Remote Control (feat. Tony Halstead & Young Thug)
13. Moon (feat. Don Toliver)
14. Heaven And Hell
15. Donda (feat. Ariana Grande, Pusha T & The World Famous Tony Williams)
16. Keep My Spirit Alive (feat. Conway the Machine, KayCyy & Westside Gunn)
17. Jesus Lord (feat. Jay Electronica, The LOX & Swizz Beatz)
18. New Again (feat. Chris Brown)
19. Tell The Vision (feat. Pop Smoke)
20. Lord I Need You (feat. Sunday Service Choir)
21. Pure Souls (feat. Roddy Ricch & Shenseea)
22. Come To Life
23. No Child Left Behind (feat. Sunday Service Choir & Vory)
24. Jail Pt. 2 (feat. DaBaby)
25. OK OK Pt. 2
26. Junya Pt. 2 (feat. Playboi Carti & Ty Dolla $ign)
27. Jesus Lord Pt. 2