Donda, Kanye West’s latest addition to his discography doesn’t start with a huge and spectacle-driven beginning unlike other West openers. It begins with just:
DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA. DONDA.

Kanye West has been a figure associated with the musical personification of madness. Whether he’s stealing VMA speeches from Taylor Swift or setting himself on fire, West has always been on the minds of many for several reasons. This time around, West has taken the music community by storm with the continually delayed release of Donda. Fans have been waiting for Donda since 2019, back when it was still going by its working title Jesus Is King Part II (a sequel to Kanye’s 2018 project Jesus is King). After missing several release dates, the continued delay of the project, and the spectacle of several listening parties, Donda has finally made its release on August 29th, 2021.

Donda’s release has simultaneously garnered praise and resentment. Many commend the album for its refreshing instrumentation and style. In contrast, many despise it for its long runtime and features, such as the controversial Dababy and Marilyn Manson.
“The hype about it was so trash, he should never release something like that again,” said sophomore Luca Aletto.
On the other hand, some students are in favor of the new songs.
“I’m in love with it,” said senior Dallas Mason. “It’s not an everyman’s album, but it’s definitely an album for me.”
Donda, without the negative connotation, is a complete mess. There are several verses, features, and beats that are flying all over the place. Donda is like a bunch of spinning plates that are ready to topple over one another and shatter. In a way, this sort of chaos is what defines Donda. The calm and enchantingly repeating name of “DONDA” on the album’s opener, Donda Chant, before being led by the pulsating and drumming beats of Jail. The ‘dark alleyway’ vibe of Off the Grid is immediately followed by the legendary and soothing voice of The Weeknd in Hurricane. It’s this sort of contradiction in Donda that makes it such an unpredictable listen.

Additionally, the features carry the foundation of this album. Frequent West collaborators Jay-Z and Kid Cudi have appearances in Jail and Moon, respectively. Playboi Carti makes a double appearance with verses in Off the Grid and Junya. As usual with Carti, it’s tough to interpret what he’s saying, but he never fails to give those tracks the blustery energy they need. However, Donda isn’t carried entirely by features. The album features plenty of songs that never fail to lift your spirits up. Hurricane, Moon, Believe What I Say, Keep My Spirit Alive, among others, are clear examples of this. The harmony-infused energy of these tracks is usually quite somber, yet features West optimistically looking back at his past. The combination of these ideas is highly present in tracks like Come to Life, which features lines like: “I’ve been feelin’ low for so long, I ain’t had a high in so long”, and “I don’t wanna die alone, I got mad when she gone.” These lyrics are Kanye looking back at his worst moments recently. However this moment is uplifted by a sort of reawakening, with West exclaiming “They cannot define me” in the track’s second verse. There’s a ton of moments like this throughout the album. It begins melodramatically before being redeemed by a second verse that changes the flow of the track. It’s almost as if there’s an entire development for this mourning Kanye West within each song.

Donda isn’t entirely filled with these shining moments, however a few tracks prefer to break the mold for better or for worse. Jonah is a track with an incredibly annoying structure, and West has little to no presence on the track itself. Tell The Vision features a rough verse from late rap artist Pop Smoke. The instrumentalization is unfortunately choppy, and it’s an incredible challenge to discern what Smoke even says in the track. This makes Tell The Vision a bizarre bump in Donda’s long road. At the end of the album, a few tracks get “Pt. 2” renditions that feature different artists and lyrics. Most of these are fine, more specifically “Jail, Pt. 2,” but the same cannot be said about “Ok Ok, Pt. 2,” which features an ear-grinding verse by Shenseea. Some features simply do not stick to the landing.

THE CONCLUSION

Not everything about Donda lands. Obviously, some of the features could use some work, and some tracks have a very poor instrumental supporting them, but these moments are far and few in-between. Donda still has a surreal amount of quality backing it up. Tracks like “Jail,” “God Breathed,” “Off the Grid,” “Hurricane,” “Praise God,” “Junya,” “Believe What I Say,” “Remote Control,” “Moon,” “Keep My Spirit Alive,” “Jesus Lord,” “New Again,” “Pure Souls,” “Come to Life,” and “No Child Left Behind” serve as definitive highlights for this album. There is a tiny amount of low points to downplay the album to be received less positively, but Donda is one of Kanye West’s most era-defining albums in a while, and feels like the Yandhi we never had.

8/10

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