Looking back on Kanye West’s career in the past three years, the stigma surrounding his name has certainly changed. From endorsing former President Donald Trump to emphasizing Christian music, Kanye West is implementing new ideas into not only his music but also his life. After an unsuccessful presidential campaign towards the end of 2020, he finally decided to drop his most anticipated album yet: Donda, named after his late mother. But does the album measure up to roughly two years of anticipation?
Kanye held multiple album listening parties leading up to its release, teasing singles that feature prominent rap artists including Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, and The Weeknd. These listening parties, held in the Mercedes Benz Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, added to the album’s hype. West was able to sell out a stadium that seats 71,000 people twice in the same month. With such high expectations, it is reasonable to assume that the Donda album would be meticulously reviewed by his fans and rap enthusiasts.
The album consists of 27 total songs with varying genres that include rap, R&B, pop, and soul. 27 is an abnormal number of songs, particularly for an artist like Kanye whose previous albums have only had roughly 13-20 songs. So this detail begs the question: is quantity preferred over quality after such a drought of songs by Kanye West? Quality is most definitely what fans were anticipating, however, the large number of songs was also well received by his fans.
The most popular songs on the album are Off the Grid, Hurricane, Praise God, and Jail, featuring Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, The Weeknd, DaBaby, and many more prominent artists in the rap industry. Music critics have deemed this album one that brings the entire industry together. These songs in particular, however, raise the bar for the album with The Weeknd’s angelic voice, Lil Baby’s consistent flow, and Travis Scott’s unique, autotuned singing.
Donda explores a variety of themes, but grief is the most obvious motif that appears consistently across the album. It is no surprise that this is a prevalent theme since the album is named after West’s late mother. From the opening track, “Donda Chant,” which is 52 seconds of his mother’s name being spoken over and over again from his mother’s last heartbeats, to a snippet of Donda West talking about her son in the song “Donda,” helps us to realize that this album is a manifestation of West’s grief.
On top of the grief, Christianity and religion were an important theme in Donda. Following his previous release of the Christian album Jesus Is King, West introduced the world to a brand new, deeply faithful side of himself. Currently, titles like “Praise God,” “Jonah,” and “Lord I Need You” remind listeners of West’s reliance upon his faith to get him through the many trials and tribulations that seem to find him.
Listening through the extensive run time of the album is a daunting task for fans, so here are some of the standout tracks to help ease into the album. “Jail” is a guitar-heavy, classic-rock-sounding song to kick off the album. “Lyrically, Kanye shows both attitude and vulnerability,” said Sam Quesenberry, a junior majoring in public relations at Virginia Tech wrote for Rolling Stone. “Not to mention, I could listen to Jay-Z’s word play on Jail’s beat all day.”
Another stand-out track is “Heaven and Hell.” Starting out with a simple beat, Kanye emphasizes his faith and its importance to inner peace as he commands listeners to “Burn false idols, Jesus’ disciples / I can feel your pain now, I done bled my vein out.” In addition to the obvious lyrics about faith, the instrumentals on this song prove the same point and are a musical treat. After a beat of Kanye rapping acapella, commanding the devil down, the instrumentals kick back in triumphantly. The musical swell can be described as jubilant, exultant, and enveloping — the feeling Kanye says his faith has given him. The simple-to-extravagant sound and passionately faithful lyrics come together to make this one of the best songs on the album.
Whether or not you consider “Donda” to be a masterful mixtape of songs representing Kanye’s personality, the album is one of the biggest releases of this year. It is choral, it is vulnerable, it is bold, and it is the perfect representation of the artist: chaotic, subtly genius, and impossible to ignore.
