In June 2020, Kanye began dropping breadcrumbs to hype an upcoming full-length. First, a single with Travis Scott accompanied a tweet announcing the song would be on his next album, God’s Country. Neither that track nor album title made it to the final release. A stream of tweets with false titles, artwork, and release dates followed. After Kanye’s third high-profile listening party, Donda was finally released in late August 2021, entirely unable to live up to the year’s worth of anticipation built around it.
We know that Ye is the mastermind behind the 808 beats and the sonority, but many of his featured guests outshine him vocally and lyrically. Playboi Carti, JAY-Z, Kid Cudi, Baby Keem, and Da Baby provide verses of clever, heartfelt rhymes while The Weeknd and Sunday Service Choir offer inspirational crooning. Lyrics take us to personal dark places in between social commentary, declarations of faith, and humor – some witty; some drooping dad jokes. Clocking in at over 108 minutes, it is undeniably too long, but Ye glues it all together with some addictive syncopation and bass lines, rhythmic synths, effects, feedback loops, and discordant noise that make this 27-track album worth a few deep dives.
