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Donda

Donda is the tenth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West, released through GOOD Music on August 29, 2021, with distribution handled by Def Jam Recordings, as his final release with the label. The album features a wide range of guest performances from artists including the Weeknd, Jay-Z, Marilyn Manson, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Lil Yachty, Baby Keem, Playboi Carti, Jay Electronica, Lil Baby, DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, Ty Dolla Sign, Fivio Foreign, Lil Durk, Pop Smoke and Young Thug, among others; vocals from Chris Brown were also included prior to the album being updated. A deluxe edition was released on November 14, 2021 and featured guest vocals from André 3000, Tyler, the Creator, and KayCyy. West himself, as well as BoozDaBeast, Dem Jointz, Mike Dean, and Ojivolta primarily helmed the albums production. West recorded much of the material at multiple locations in the summer of 2021, including Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Wyoming and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

For other uses, see Donda (disambiguation).

Donda

August 29, 2021 (2021-08-29)

  • September 2018
  • November 2019 – August 2021

  • 108:48
  • 130:52 (Deluxe edition)

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 variously as 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, the album's namesake whom its release is dedicated to.


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" both 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. The album has been certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), received gold certification in Canada and New Zealand by Music Canada (MC) and Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ), respectively. The appearances from DaBaby and Marilyn Manson created considerable controversy amongst audiences as a result of their separate allegations of homophobia and sexual abuse. 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. A deluxe edition of the album was released on November 14 and contained three additional songs and two extended of its original songs extended.

Background[edit]

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.[1] On July 21, 2020, West confirmed the album title had been changed to Donda in honor of his mother, after whom he had also named his creative company.[2][3] The album had its name briefly changed to Donda: With Child, which was later reversed.[4] West announced a release date of July 24, 2020, and posted a track listing for the album. In the following days, West continued to post track listings, only to subsequently delete them.[2] Ultimately, the album missed its planned release date.[5] 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.[6] The rapper asserted that these efforts were obstructed by his signed contracts, succeeding this by tweeting multiple images that supposedly showed the contracts.[6]


Since his tweet announcing a 2024 run for presidency on November 4, 2020,[7][8] 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.[8] Information about the album and its listening events was relayed through fellow collaborators such as Consequence, Malik Yusef, Justin LaBoy and Pusha T.[8] 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!"[9] 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.[10] 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, 2021.[11] On July 21, 2021, 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, 2021.[12][13]

Music and lyrics[edit]

Donda covers the stylistic groundwork of West's previous albums;[63][64] it has been described as a hip hop,[65][66] gospel,[67][68] progressive rap,[66] and pop record,[69][70] while the album also includes elements of trap, drill, boom bap,[71] hip house, and rock.[72] 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).[64] 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".[63] 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.[73][47] Donda's integration of gospel music is more subtle than that of its predecessor,[74][75] instead favoring the usage of trap beats and Auto-Tune.[68][76] 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).[71]


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.[69] In contrast, Craig Jenkins of Vulture said that Donda's "unifying quality is a subtle minimalism", with prominent silence.[72] Fred Thomas of AllMusic similarly opined that the album is built on "minimal arrangements that linger while feeling eerily unfinished".[73] 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.[72] In The Sydney Morning Herald, Michael Dwyer wrote that the "gospel flourishes of organ and voices" on Donda are elevated by "passionate yearning".[76] It has a length of 1 hour and 48 minutes (1:48), which Green said contains "euphoric highs" with a lack of "connective tissue", observing "a data dump of songs searching for a higher calling".[71] Gigwise writer Charlie Brock depicted that the album "ebbs and flows", being "melancholic and subversive" at some points, and "outlandish and snarling" at others.[77]


Donda was inspired by religion, being themed around West's faith across much of the material.[69][70] Some critics have described the album as sombre, with darker lyrical content than West's previous works.[78][79] For Exclaim!, Riley Wallace asserted that it is a lot less clumsy than Jesus Is King and also a "more accessible body of work".[78] References to addiction and mental instability are prominent,[63] as well as Kanye West's ego and his family,[67] including the collapse of his marriage with Kardashian and thoughts about Donda.[64][69] Themes of hope, rebirth, and salvation are also present.[78] 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.[80] In the same vein as Jesus Is King, Donda features no explicit language, with all expletives being edited out.[74][80]

Songs[edit]

The album's opening track, "Donda Chant", consists of Syleena Johnson chanting Donda West's forename repeatedly for nearly a minute.[63][76] "Jail" follows and is the first full track, featuring Kanye West and Jay-Z combining metaphors about crime with details of marriage and sin.[63][65] The track is a fusion of "maximalist hip hop",[69] pop, and alternative rock,[74] incorporating auto-tuned vocals and arena rock guitar riffs.[73][64][81] The song contains almost no drums,[82] until the last segment of the track brings a "brief, stilted drum pattern",[73] described as industrial percussion.[83] "God Breathed" has an abrasive, industrial sound that was compared to Yeezus,[73][63] and features West offering redemption, reaffirming his trust in God before a wordless choir performs the outro.[66][67][76] 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",[63][84] 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".[65][71] The song has an intense drill beat, featuring a "melodically complex" bassline and a "sustained choir".[66] "Hurricane" is an R&B song,[64] with layered organs and processed choir vocals that are cut akin to a sample.[82][85] 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.[64][77][81] "Praise God" contains a vocal sample of Donda West proclaiming, "Even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night."[79] 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.[76][81] "Jonah" sees him rapping about his relationship with God,[77] alongside fellow rappers Vory and Lil Durk opening up about their pain of losing friends and family members, respectively.[64][81]


"Ok Ok" includes West commanding his status, while fellow rapper Lil Yachty boasts about sexual action.[74] "Junya" is a tribute to Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe and features a skeletal arrangement of handclaps, organs, and heavy bass.[73][72] It contains a Drake diss from West, with him alluding to Certified Lover Boy's delayed release.[74][75] On "Believe What I Say", described as hip house, R&B, and soul,[72][76][81] West offers a reminder to not let fame drag him down and references Kardashian.[69][81] West and the Sunday Service Choir provide worship on "24",[72] which features him delivering a message of hope in relation to God,[65] backed by a discordant organ played by Cory Henry.[74][83] "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.[65][72] On "Moon", rapper Kid Cudi provides a wistful performance.[63][72] Throughout "Heaven and Hell", West lets out his thoughts on Jeff Bezos, vinyl, and modern culture.[77] "Donda" contains a vocal sample of a speech by West's mother of the same name, who talks about him being a genius;[68][69] the speech precedes a Christian worship moment from The World Famous Tony Williams.[72] On the boom bap[72] track "Keep My Spirit Alive", West claims to be anti-commercial and links his problems with the behavior of God.[76][81] "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,[65][67][68] as well as questioning if he will go to heaven and see Donda there.[71][86] 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.[74][81][82]


Throughout the hip house track "New Again", West searches for salvation and showcases awareness of religion's trappings.[72][79] The first version featured Brown crooning repentance for everything he will do again on the chorus,[51][86] though the update replaced him with West and the Sunday Service Choir.[54] "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.[65][71] 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".[80][81][86] Within "Pure Souls", religious ideas are expressed and West declares there is a new version of him to adapt to,[68][66][71] while Roddy Ricch wonders about truth on the hook.[79][82] West sings about the emotional fallout from getting divorced on "Come to Life", alongside assuring that he is connected with God.[65][82] "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.[87][68]


The last four tracks on Donda are either alternate or extended versions of preceding songs.[65] "Jail pt 2" features an additional verse from DaBaby, who confirms his stance on gay people, complains about financial issues, and references his daughters.[88] Singer Marilyn Manson also appears on the version, singing along with West at a few points.[64] "Ok Ok pt 2" and "Junya pt 2" include further contributions from Shenseea and Ty Dolla Sign, respectively.[81][46] 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.[67]

Commercial performance[edit]

Donda debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 after a five-day period of tracking, with 309,000 album-equivalent units that consisted of 272,000 streaming-equivalent album units, 37,000 pure album sales, and less than 1,000 track-equivalent units.[206][207] The album-equivalent units set a record for the highest amount of 2021, exceeding the 295,000 units amassed by Olivia Rodrigo's Sour. Kanye West scored his 10th chart-topper on the Billboard 200 with the album, making him one of seven artists to have gathered this amount of number-ones on the chart. It also marked West's 10th consecutive album to debut at the summit, tying him with Eminem's record.[206] It also reached the summit of the US Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums charts, becoming West's second album to top the two charts and achieving the biggest unit week for both.[208] The album entered atop the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, on which it was the rapper's 10th chart-topper.[209] 23 of Donda's tracks debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, leading to West joining Drake as one of the two artists to have 23 or more songs chart simultaneously. This also increased West's Hot 100 entries to 133, the fifth most of any act, a ranking he attained for top-40 hits as well by having scored 68. "Hurricane" was the highest charting track, reaching number six and becoming West's 19th top-20 hit.[118] The 23 tracks took up the top-23 spots on both the US Christian Songs and Gospel Songs charts, exceeding West's record of all top-10 positions on the former chart and the top-11 on the latter.[208] As a result of the album and its tracks, West went up from number 67 to the top position on the Billboard Artist 100, giving him his third week atop the chart.[210] It was the ninth best-selling digital album of 2021 in the United States.[211] On March 9, 2022, Donda was certified platinum by the RIAA for pushing 1,000,000 certified units in the US.[212]


In Canada, Donda topped the Canadian Albums Chart,[213] and on January 7, 2022, it was certified platinum by Music Canada (MC) for shelving 80,000 album-equivalent units in the country.[214] Elsewhere, the album entered atop the ARIA Albums chart in Australia, standing as West's fourth number-one release on the chart. This led to him joining 5 Seconds of Summer, Justin Bieber, Keith Urban, Kings of Leon, and Lady Gaga as one of the acts to achieve their fourth number-one album in the 2020s decade.[215] The debut increased West's number of chart-topping weeks to five, alongside giving the rapper his ninth top-10 release on the ARIA Albums chart. 19 of Donda's tracks debuted within the top-50 of the ARIA Singles chart; "Hurricane" charted the highest at number four.[215] The entries surpassed Taylor Swift's milestone of 16 debuts in the top-50, as well as the record held by both Post Malone and Michael Jackson for 17 tracks present within this ranking. The album also topped the New Zealand Albums chart,[215] and by March 27, 2022, it had been certified platinum by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for shipments of 15,000 units in New Zealand.[216]


Donda ranked at number one on the midweek album sales chart in the United Kingdom, before debuting at the same position on the UK Albums Chart.[217][218] It gave West his third chart-topper in the UK and stood as his first since Yeezus in 2013.[218] The album pushed 19,617 chart sales, 91 percent of which came from 17,921 streaming-equivalent units, while the other nine percent consisted of 1,696 paid downloads.[218][219] In total, Donda accumulated 33.4 million streams in the UK across its 27 tracks.[218] Three of the tracks debuted on the UK Singles Chart, with "Hurricane" attaining the highest position of number seven.[121] The album entered atop the Irish Albums Chart, standing as West's second number-one album in Ireland and his ninth to reach the top-10.[220] West had the three highest new entries on the Irish Singles Chart with the tracks that debuted; "Hurricane" was the most successful, reaching number seven.[221] Donda opened at the summit of the French Albums chart, becoming West's first number-one album in France and selling 9,476 copies over a five-day tracking period.[222] The album also topped the charts in Austria,[223] Belgium's Flanders and Wallonia regions,[224][225] the Czech Republic,[226] Denmark,[227] Finland,[228] Iceland,[229] Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.[215] On May 3, 2022, it was awarded a platinum certiifcation by IFPI Danmark for shipments of 20,000 units in Denmark.[230] Donda peaked within the top five in Germany,[231] Slovakia,[232] Spain,[233] and Switzerland.[234]

signifies a co-producer

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signifies an additional producer

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Notes[46][74][78][81][236][237]


Samples

2021 in hip hop music

List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2021

StemPlayer.com

at Discogs (list of releases)

Donda