Kanye West - Donda ALBUM REVIEW
No intro joke. It’s finally here.
Well, it’s been a pretty wild ride. For many different reasons, good or bad, Kanye West doesn’t need any introduction whatsoever. Announced back in July 2020 as God’s Country, Mr. West has been in a rough patch of his life for the past few years. It’s been pretty clear that since the sudden passing of his mother, Donda West, in 2007, Ye has been on a downward spiral. While some of his best music has come from this period, arguably his worst has come from it too. His last full-length album, Jesus is King, was his tipping point. Even if the music was good (it wasn’t), Jesus is King was a manic episode. No one really knows if he’s been taking care of himself since then, but then again, you’re never gonna know with Kanye. After three eventful listening parties, Kanye West’s tenth studio album Donda dropped out of the blue last Sunday to much fanfare. Also, the features on here are certainly eye-grabbing: Jay-Z, Francis & The Lights, Marilyn Manson, Vory, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Baby Keem, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, Shanseea, Rooga, Young Thug, Tony Williams, Kaycyy, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn, Jay Electronica, Chris Brown, Pop Smoke, Roddy Ricch, DaBaby, Ty Dolla $ign, and The LOX. That’s a murder’s row right there. After taking a week with it, did the long-awaited album live up to the astronomical hype around it? Let’s find out.
Before I get into the music itself, I can say that regardless of the quality of the album, the rollout was a cultural event and was actually pretty fun to hear all the changes that this album would go through, good and bad. I think it’s pretty safe to say that we’re probably never gonna get an album rollout like this ever again, and if even someone tries to copy it a few decades down the road, we’ll probably be reminded of how Kanye was promoting Donda and just how wild it was to see all of this go down. Whether you like the guy or not, everybody was talking about Kanye and his antics about this album and the listening parties that supported it. There aren’t a lot of celebrities that can get the world talking just by playing unreleased music in a packed stadium while walking around the floor. I can comfortably say that with all of this in the past, Donda was probably one of the most anticipated albums in a very long time, which sets expectations for its eventual drop at a very high bar. I waited to put this review out because I needed this to marinate for a week. Yes, Donda dropped. It’s exciting, but I wouldn’t be a competent reviewer if the hype got the best of me and just automatically gave it a perfect score out of enjoyment. Well, I have given perfect scores based on how much I enjoyed an album a few times this year, but as great as those projects are, they weren’t on the same hype level as Donda. Okay, I’m done with this portion. Let’s get into the music.
Right off the bat, this album is a behemoth. During the listening parties, it didn’t really hit me how much content there was. This thing has TWENTY-SEVEN SONGS AND IS NEARLY TWO HOURS LONG. First, let’s dive into the production. Where Jesus is King lacked intricacy and was just messy, Donda is much more intricate and his most exciting project on the production side since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Nearly every song has its own uniqueness and atmosphere. I’d even call it beautiful and grandiose at times. It’s quite different from the shoddiness that was heard in the listening parties, which was a pleasant surprise. Now, since they’re a major talking point, let’s touch on the features real quick. I do think that for the most part, they’re pretty good. As for my favorites, they have to be Conway the Machine, The Weeknd, and Jay Electronica. Jay. Fucking. Electronica. I’m pretty sure Jay Electronica might have the verse of the year. Now, for Kanye himself. He sounds good on this. That doesn’t mean that he’s still grieving over the loss of his mother. His songwriting is on point here, and he’s probably at his most personal and his most vulnerable ever. Kanye on this album is very different from the Kanye persona that’s been in the spotlight for the past month. If only some people could realize that…
This is gonna be a divisive album in one of music’s most divisive catalogs. There are gonna be people that adore this album and there are people that are gonna hate this album, and that’s okay. I’ve listened to this a good amount of times. As I stated earlier, I wanted the hype to die down before writing this review and getting my thoughts out officially, and now that that’s out of the way, Donda’s fucking fantastic. It’s easily Kanye West’s best album since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and I’m pretty sure it will go down as one of his best when it’s all said and done. This is a career-defining album and it’s mind-blowing that West lived up to this hype that he set the bar himself. Donda is my album of the year. In other words, thank you, Kanye. Very cool!
10/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Donda is a G.O.O.D. Music release.
Well, it’s been a pretty wild ride. For many different reasons, good or bad, Kanye West doesn’t need any introduction whatsoever. Announced back in July 2020 as God’s Country, Mr. West has been in a rough patch of his life for the past few years. It’s been pretty clear that since the sudden passing of his mother, Donda West, in 2007, Ye has been on a downward spiral. While some of his best music has come from this period, arguably his worst has come from it too. His last full-length album, Jesus is King, was his tipping point. Even if the music was good (it wasn’t), Jesus is King was a manic episode. No one really knows if he’s been taking care of himself since then, but then again, you’re never gonna know with Kanye. After three eventful listening parties, Kanye West’s tenth studio album Donda dropped out of the blue last Sunday to much fanfare. Also, the features on here are certainly eye-grabbing: Jay-Z, Francis & The Lights, Marilyn Manson, Vory, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Baby Keem, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, Shanseea, Rooga, Young Thug, Tony Williams, Kaycyy, Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn, Jay Electronica, Chris Brown, Pop Smoke, Roddy Ricch, DaBaby, Ty Dolla $ign, and The LOX. That’s a murder’s row right there. After taking a week with it, did the long-awaited album live up to the astronomical hype around it? Let’s find out.
Before I get into the music itself, I can say that regardless of the quality of the album, the rollout was a cultural event and was actually pretty fun to hear all the changes that this album would go through, good and bad. I think it’s pretty safe to say that we’re probably never gonna get an album rollout like this ever again, and if even someone tries to copy it a few decades down the road, we’ll probably be reminded of how Kanye was promoting Donda and just how wild it was to see all of this go down. Whether you like the guy or not, everybody was talking about Kanye and his antics about this album and the listening parties that supported it. There aren’t a lot of celebrities that can get the world talking just by playing unreleased music in a packed stadium while walking around the floor. I can comfortably say that with all of this in the past, Donda was probably one of the most anticipated albums in a very long time, which sets expectations for its eventual drop at a very high bar. I waited to put this review out because I needed this to marinate for a week. Yes, Donda dropped. It’s exciting, but I wouldn’t be a competent reviewer if the hype got the best of me and just automatically gave it a perfect score out of enjoyment. Well, I have given perfect scores based on how much I enjoyed an album a few times this year, but as great as those projects are, they weren’t on the same hype level as Donda. Okay, I’m done with this portion. Let’s get into the music.
Right off the bat, this album is a behemoth. During the listening parties, it didn’t really hit me how much content there was. This thing has TWENTY-SEVEN SONGS AND IS NEARLY TWO HOURS LONG. First, let’s dive into the production. Where Jesus is King lacked intricacy and was just messy, Donda is much more intricate and his most exciting project on the production side since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Nearly every song has its own uniqueness and atmosphere. I’d even call it beautiful and grandiose at times. It’s quite different from the shoddiness that was heard in the listening parties, which was a pleasant surprise. Now, since they’re a major talking point, let’s touch on the features real quick. I do think that for the most part, they’re pretty good. As for my favorites, they have to be Conway the Machine, The Weeknd, and Jay Electronica. Jay. Fucking. Electronica. I’m pretty sure Jay Electronica might have the verse of the year. Now, for Kanye himself. He sounds good on this. That doesn’t mean that he’s still grieving over the loss of his mother. His songwriting is on point here, and he’s probably at his most personal and his most vulnerable ever. Kanye on this album is very different from the Kanye persona that’s been in the spotlight for the past month. If only some people could realize that…
This is gonna be a divisive album in one of music’s most divisive catalogs. There are gonna be people that adore this album and there are people that are gonna hate this album, and that’s okay. I’ve listened to this a good amount of times. As I stated earlier, I wanted the hype to die down before writing this review and getting my thoughts out officially, and now that that’s out of the way, Donda’s fucking fantastic. It’s easily Kanye West’s best album since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and I’m pretty sure it will go down as one of his best when it’s all said and done. This is a career-defining album and it’s mind-blowing that West lived up to this hype that he set the bar himself. Donda is my album of the year. In other words, thank you, Kanye. Very cool!
10/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
Donda is a G.O.O.D. Music release.
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