Kanye West - Donda
Kanye West’s “Donda” is a mixed bag that places all of the rapper’s strengths and shortcomings, both as a musician and person, on full display.
By: Griffin Jacobs
Kanye West’s tenth solo album, “Donda,” is finally here over a year after being announced. This is a project drenched in history and context, from its most popular song, “Hurricane,” having been initially teased nearly three years ago as part of the canceled “Yandhi,” to his decision to censor the record in line with his born again Christianity and a similar decision made on 2019’s “Jesus is King.”
“Donda” is a very personal project for West, diving headfirst into his faith on “24,” “Heaven and Hell,” and “No Child Left Behind” and his family life and divorce on “Believe What I Say,” “Lord I Need You,” and “Come To Life.” “Come To Life” stands out as the most sentimental and touching of “Donda” tracks, as West exorcises his demons relating to his divorce, his uncle’s incarceration, and his own selfish ego over a beautiful piano as the infamous Adidas ambassador brings his daughter the Nikes she wants, saying “this is not about me.” “Come to Life” is also unique, as there are no features on it, as “Donda” is filled to the brim with over thirty guests.
Despite being such a personal project, many of its tracks feel tailor-made for their featured artists, which makes the album much better as Kanye is able to keep the quality of his contributions consistent while amplifying others. A subtle beat switch on “Off the Grid” lets Fivio Foreign go off for the best verse of his career. The slower pacing, lush guitars, and lack of drums on “Moon” push the angelic crooning of Kid Cudi and Don Toliver to new heights. The minimalist production on “Jesus Lord” allows Jay Electronica’s impeccable lyricism and wordplay to take center stage and something similar is seen on “Keep My Spirit Alive” and what it does for Westside Gunn’s signature ad-libs.
Of course, a few of these features are controversial, most notably DaBaby and Marilyn Manson, who were added to “Jail pt 2” last minute, seemingly only because they were controversial, Dababy having been pulled from Lollapalooza following homophobic comments about AIDS, and Manson, who has always been controversial, but is currently facing multiple charges of sexual assault. Besides them, Don Toliver, featured on “Moon,” has also been accused of sexual assault and Chris Brown, featured on “New Again,” has a monstrous history of abuse and assault. The charitable interpretation of these inclusions would tie them to the album’s themes of redemption and forgiveness, but the only time these past misdeeds are brought up, by Brown and DaBaby, they’re instantly dismissed and don’t sound at all remorseful.
“Donda” isn’t perfect as just a musical endeavor either, with a litany of relatively small issues ruining the immersion of a handful of tracks. An ungodly long outro on “God Breathed,” subpar and nonsensical lyricism from Baby Keem on “Praise God,” irritating and constant ad libs on “Junya,” an annoyingly drawn-out whistling bridge on “Remote Control,” unnecessarily pitch-shifting the choir on “Heaven and Hell,” and removing both Pusha T and West’s verses on the title track, turning it into more of an interlude than a full song.
Being an hour and forty-eight minutes, most people will be able to find a lot to hate and a lot to love in it. “Donda” echoes many of Kanye’s past projects, with “Jesus is King”-esque gospel on “24” and “No Child Left Behind,” as well as his storytelling roots on “Jesus Lord.” West also innovates on unique tracks like “Jail” and dips his toes into hard trap on “Off the Grid.” In this regard, “Donda” reflects the career and life of Kanye West in a way none of his other projects have ever done, a mix of old and new, ugly and beautiful, ego and religious humility. Every bit of praise and criticism ever leveled against Kanye is on full display here. Make of that what you will.