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Wikipedia

Donda

January 01, 1970

For other uses, see Donda (disambiguation).

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.

Donda
The Donda album art, a plain black square
Studio album by
Kanye West
ReleasedAugust 29, 2021 (2021-08-29)
Recorded
  • September 2018
  • November 2019 – August 2021
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 108:48
  • 130:52 (Deluxe edition)
Label
Producer
Kanye West chronology
Jesus Is King
(2019) 		Donda
(2021) 		Donda 2
(2022)
Singles from Donda
  1. "Hurricane"
    Released: September 14, 2021
  2. "Life of the Party"
    Released: November 14, 2021
  3. "Believe What I Say"
    Released: November 30, 2021
  4. "Off the Grid"
    Released: November 30, 2021

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]

Recording edit

The recording sessions began a month after Jesus Is King was released.[14] Producer BoogzDaBeast recalled that he was called in to Wyoming with West telling him "Man we're going back in, we're about to do a new album. Let's keep this going.".[14] BoogzDaBeast came to Wyoming with 166 beats, which the producer clarified that they were mostly unfinished ideas.[14] Of those 166 ideas, West freestyled over 99 of them in what the producer calls "That One Night in Wyoming". Songs such as "Wash Us in the Blood"–which was originally set for release on Donda in 2020, but was left off the final album–and "Lord I Need You" were originally conceived during said session.[15]

In March 2020, West recorded new music in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before returning to Wyoming with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] That same month, GOOD Music president Pusha T stated in a Discord interview that he had been recording with West recently. Pusha T was planning to meet with West on March 16, 2020, to complete a project, but cited "flights slowing down" due to COVID travel restrictions as the reason for a delay.[17] On March 12, 2020, rappers Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine were spotted in Wyoming recording material with West.[18] Westside Gunn would later confirm his collaboration with West in an interview for Elliot Wilson on Tidal, alongside recalling that they were set to travel to Cabo San Lucas after recording in Wyoming, until the COVID-19 pandemic canceled their plans.[19] West held further recording sessions at Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming, which he bought for $14.5 million. The ranch spans over 6,700 acres, covering a larger area than the Monster Lake Ranch property in Wyoming that West previously bought.[20] West flew Lil Baby out to Wyoming to record for Donda on July 22, 2020, following on from him tweeting, "Lil Baby my favorite rapper but won't do a song with me."[21][22] The rapper ended up recording his verse for "Hurricane" after Kenyan-American rapper KayCyy suggested to him that he should contribute to it.[23] In September 2020, West recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn at Gargamel Studio in Jamaica.[24][25]

On March 8, 2021, Cyhi the Prynce stated in an interview with VladTV that West had resumed work on Donda amid his divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian.[26] On May 30, West was joined in the studio by fellow rapper Playboi Carti.[27] On June 14, 2021, court documents were obtained revealing that West was recording for the album in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he held sessions at Island Sound Studio, after reportedly "freaking out" during his deposition in an ongoing lawsuit with tech company MyChannel.[28][29][30] Singer-songwriter Syleena Johnson worked on music in San Francisco around a month later, indicating via an Instagram post that she was collaborating with West.[31] Speaking for Cocktails with Queens on Fox Soul, Johnson said she recorded the song "Donda Chant" as well as vocals for another track that ended up not getting used, in said session.[32]

 
West held recording sessions inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, taking up temporary residence in the locker rooms for studio spaces and living areas.

After holding a listening event for Donda at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021, West took up temporary residence in one of the locker rooms, converting it into a studio for finishing the recording and mixing with producer Mike Dean.[33][34][35] Playboi Carti, Jay-Z and 2 Chainz joined West for recording in the room, with West posting a photo to Instagram of himself and the former there a day before the event.[33][36][37] Jay-Z reportedly recorded his verse for "Jail" mere hours prior to the listening event.[38][39] After failing to meet the album's scheduled release date of July 23, West continued to record and live in Mercedes-Benz Stadium up until the second listening party held there on August 5, 2021.[40][41] 24 hours before the second listening event commenced, West and several other artists could be seen recording among doing numerous other activities during an Apple Music livestream.[42][43]

Songs edit

 
 
Chris Brown (left) and Soulja Boy (right) both publicly made comments aimed at West due to the controversial removal of their respective verses from the album.

"Hurricane" was originally previewed via Instagram by West in September 2018 and also leaked online, initially being intended for his scrapped album Yandhi.[44] After the song was first previewed, it went through various iterations, with contributions from artists such as KayCyy, Big Sean, and American musician Ty Dolla Sign,[23][45] of which the latter would feature on "Junya pt 2". However, none of their contributions made the final cut of "Hurricane", and they would be replaced with Lil Baby and Canadian singer the Weeknd.[46] A song titled "Never Abandon Your Family" was previewed at the first two listening events for Donda on July 22 and August 6, 2021.[47] Although the song was not included on the first version of the album,[47] it later appeared on the deluxe edition.[48] "Donda", which was initially titled "South Carolina" when previewed at the aforementioned listening parties, originally featured a verse where West traded bars with Pusha T. The verse contained references to West's South Carolina rally from his 2020 presidential campaign.[45][49]

The song "New Again", featuring vocals from R&B singer Chris Brown on the chorus, originally included a verse performed by the singer that he later leaked, after publicly calling West a "whole hoe".[50][51][52] Several critics expressed negative responses to West's choice to remove the verse, including the co-host of The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne tha God, that defined the verse discard as a "poor choice musically".[53] On September 28, 2021, the song was updated on streaming services, with Brown being replaced by West and the Sunday Service Choir.[54] Rapper Soulja Boy originally recorded a verse for the track "Remote Control", although he was not included on the final version of the song, being replaced with fellow rapper Young Thug.[55][56] Following the album's release, Soulja Boy shared a snippet of his verse to Twitter, with the caption of the post reading, "Fuck Kanye".[55] In November 2021, West apologized to Soulja Boy for removing the verse without informing him, though insisted he did so because it was bad.[57] Fellow rapper André 3000 also recorded a verse for an unreleased track entitled "Life of the Party", which had been previewed at a listening event for Donda in Las Vegas. In the song, West disses Canadian musician Drake, who leaked the song in retaliation amidst a feud between them. André 3000 lamented the feud, stating that his verse was written before West's diss.[58][59] The song was later released on the deluxe version of the album, with the Drake diss replaced by an alternate verse from West.[48]

On September 7, 2021, DJ Akademiks shared a screenshot of a conversation between West and an unnamed engineer that worked on Donda, showing West firing the engineer after no response to his morning message to start work.[60] On September 14, 2021, American multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren revealed he had recorded heavily for it and was tolerant of West delving into different subjects, but became frustrated with the rapper after a lack of feedback about his material. Rundgren also assumed it should be made clear if he can contribute or not and saw "a possibility" he is "actually in there somewhere" among the album's "junk", concluding by branding West "a dilettante".[61] On September 24, 2021, after multiple artists had revealed that contributions to Donda from them were scrapped, West's sound engineer Nikolai Skrobat revealed that an upcoming playlist consisting of "forgotten tracks" from West's discography may include the album's unreleased material.[62]

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]

 
"New Again"
An 18-second sample of the original version of "New Again", a hip house track that features West and Chris Brown touching on salvation and offering repentance, tying in with the religious theme of Donda.[72][79][86]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

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]

Release and promotion edit

On June 26, 2020, West unveiled a collaboration between his fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap, and also launched the #WestDayEver promotional campaign on Twitter that accompanied announcements of different projects.[89] One of the projects was a music video for the track "Wash Us in the Blood" that features fellow rapper Travis Scott, directed by Jafa; the video was released simultaneously with the song on June 30, following a teaser in which West officially announced the album's title as God's Country.[89][90] The track was set to be included on Donda, but did not appear on the final track listing.[91][5] On July 13, 2020, Kanye shared a snippet on Twitter of a song titled "Donda", which featured his late mother Donda West reciting KRS-One's "Sound of da Police" (1993) and was accompanied by archival footage, including the Wests rapping together.[92] The song was replaced with another track also titled "Donda" on the final track listing. On September 26, 2020, West shared a 39-second snippet of the track "Believe What I Say" to Twitter.[93] West later released a song entitled "Nah Nah Nah" on October 26, calling the song his 2020 presidential campaign's theme music; it includes him referencing his candidacy.[94] On November 13, 2020, West released a remix of "Nah Nah Nah" that features fellow rappers DaBaby and 2 Chainz.[95] After the original and remix were both removed from streaming services in the lead up to Donda's release, neither of them made the final cut.[96][73]

On July 20, 2021, Audio products company Beats by Dre premiered a commercial during game six of the 2021 NBA Finals with athlete Sha'Carri Richardson, scored by West's track "No Child Left Behind".[97] The commercial also showed the release date for Donda as July 23, 2021, and marked one of the first snippets of the music.[97][87] French producer Gesaffelstein later revealed that he produced the song, marking his second time working with West after having previously contributed to the rapper's sixth studio album Yeezus (2013).[98] Directly after the commercial's debut, Def Jam reaffirmed the album's release date.[99]

In late July 2021, a representative for West announced a release date of August 6 for Donda,[100][101] which was later confirmed via both a Beats by Dre commercial and West's Apple Music livestream.[102][103] A day prior to this, a pre-order for the album was launched on iTunes, revealing it to feature 24 songs, along with a release date of August 27, 2021, before the date was revised to six days later.[104][105] Conflictingly, Apple Music displayed the release date to be August 15, before one set for five days later appeared on the service.[104][106] On August 20, 2021, the service listed a release date of August 28, one day after Donda's third listening party; Thiam reaffirmed that the release would come after the event.[107] A day before the scheduled release, Donda's release date experienced another pushback on Apple Music, setting it to coincide with the release of Drake's sixth studio album Certified Lover Boy on September 3, 2021.[108] It was speculated across social media that the delay was intentional to increase competition between the two artists.[108][109]

On August 29, 2021, Donda was released by GOOD Music, distributed by Def Jam, succeeding several delays during that month.[5][110] It stood as West's last release with the latter label, after his contract expired.[111] "Jail pt 2" was originally not able to be played, showing up on the Spotify version of the album as an "unavailable" track, after DaBaby's manager had not cleared his verse prior to release.[110][112] Hours after its official release, West claimed that Universal Music had released Donda without his approval and blocked "Jail pt 2" from appearing on the album.[3][6] The song later became available on streaming services, including Tidal and Spotify.[110][113] Universal Music denied having either released the album without West's approval or blocked the release of "Jail pt 2", with an anonymous source at the company calling his claims "preposterous".[6][114][115]

On September 3, 2021, "Hurricane" was playlisted by Swedish mainstream station Sveriges Radio P3.[116] The song was sent to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations by GOOD Music and Def Jam as the lead single from Donda on September 14, 2021.[117] Following the album's release, the song entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number six, giving West his 19th top-10 hit on the chart.[118] It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for amassing 1,000,000 certified units in the US on January 10, 2022.[119] "Hurricane" reached number 12 on the Swedish Singles Chart, with it debuting five places higher on the UK Singles Chart.[120][121] On November 30, 2021, "Believe What I Say" and "Off the Grid" were released as singles to US rhythmic and urban contemporary radio stations, respectively, through Good Music and Def Jam.[122][123] On the Hot 100, the former charted at number 28.[118] "Off the Grid" debuted at number 11 on the chart, alongside reaching number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.[118][121] On November 8, 2021, the song was awarded a gold certification by the RIAA for pushing 500,000 certified units in the US.[124]

West purchased many large billboards to advertise Donda in Drake's hometown of Toronto during September 2021, outnumbering the ones used for Certified Lover Boy on the day of its release.[125] A music video for "Come to Life" was released on September 2, 2021. The visual features footage from the album's third listening event at Soldier Field, showing West setting on fire then reuniting with Kardashian.[126] A music video for "24" was released two weeks after the one for "Come to Life", and begins with footage from Donda's second Mercedes-Benz Stadium listening event of West ascending towards the sky, before he rises above the stadium and floats around among clouds.[127] A clip for "Donda Chant" was shared exclusively to Instagram by West on September 19, 2021. The black-and-white visual incorporates aerial footage from the album's Soldier Field listening event that shows the replica of Kanye West's childhood home, on which flashes of old pictures of Donda are projected.[128] On October 16, 2021, West performed a four-song set for Tiffany & Co. executive Alexandre Arnault and D'estree founder Geralde Guyot after their wedding in Venice, Italy, which included "Come to Life" and "Believe What I Say".[129] He debuted a music video for "Heaven and Hell" during the College Football Playoff National Championship game on January 10, 2022. The visual has a night setting and shows people wearing new Yeezy Gap hoodies wandering around a city; it concludes with floating bodies spiralling through the skies.[130]

Cover art edit

 
Initial cover art, shared by West in July 2020 and designed by Pierre-Louis Auvray
 
Second proposed cover, showcasing an adaptation of a Louise Bourgeois painting from 2007
 
The opened CD jewel case of Donda which, including the disc itself, is entirely plain black

On July 25, 2020, West tweeted out an album cover,[131] showing an infrared scheme of orange and red mirroring the shape of the people, sun, and moon in the sky, backed by green mountains alongside purple and white clouds designed by Pierre-Louis Auvray.[90] In the lead up to the first Donda listening event on July 22, 2021, a possible replacement cover was used as the promo artwork. The cover was an adaptation of a Louise Bourgeois gouache painting that had been created in 2007, the same year as Donda West's death, and included in Bourgeois' series Les têtes bleues et les femmes rouges (2015).[132][133] In the painting, a woman is shown in monochromatic red and a matching ponytail flows behind her, while a fertility idol is also partially present.[132][133] After Kanye West posted numerous potential covers, a plain black square was ultimately used as the artwork for the album.[134]

Streaming performance and updates edit

In its first day of release, Donda earned the second-biggest global Spotify debut for album streams ever, with nearly 100 million streams, and broke the record for the biggest first day streams of 2021 on the service that was set by Olivia Rodrigo's Sour.[135][136] The album also set a new record by reaching number one on Apple Music's top albums chart in 152 countries in its first day, and earned the third-biggest first day debut streams for an album. Donda broke the 2021 record for the most-streamed album in one day on Apple Music, while 19 of the top-20 tracks on the service's Top 100 Global songs chart were from the album.[137] Donda amassed 60 million first day streams in the United States on Apple, setting a streaming record for 2021 in the country.[138] After eight days of streaming, it had reached around 423 million on-demand audio streams in the US.[139] 25 of the tracks debuted with the top-40 of Spotify's U.S. chart, with 10 of them occupying the top-10.[135] The album's 2021 record for first day Spotify streams was broken by Certified Lover Boy, which also surpassed its eight-day total of US on-demand audio streams within three days, amassing over 430 million streams.[139][140] By October 26, the former had amassed over a billion streams on Spotify, becoming West's fastest album to achieve this milestone.[141]

On September 28, 2021, West released an updated version of Donda separately from the original on streaming services.[54][142] The changes included the removal of KayCyy and Brown from "Keep My Spirit Alive" and "New Again", respectively; Brown's writing credits were also removed from the latter.[142] West replaced KayCyy on the former, while he and the Sunday Service Choir appeared in place of Brown on "New Again".[54]

Donda Stem Player edit

Main article: Stem Player

On August 25, 2021, West announced the Donda Stem Player via his website, a standalone music player allowing users to remix the album's songs using their stems.[143][144][145] Users are also given the ability to control vocals, drums, bass, and samples, isolate parts, and add effects.[143][144][146] The player was announced as being set to be released by West's brand Yeezy Tech in collaboration with Kano Computing and sold for $200.[144][145][147] On October 27, 2021, the Donda Stem Player was made available by West, with three extra songs being included. The new songs are a censored edit of "Life of the Party", "Up from the Ashes", and an updated version of "Never Abandon Your Family". In addition, the player contains a version of "Remote Control" that re-adds Kid Cudi's original contribution.[148][149] On November 17, 2021, the Donda Stem Player website was updated to include downloadable stems for Jesus Is King. On December 10, 2021, stems for "Wash Us in the Blood" were added in an update.[150]

In February 2022, West announced that the sequel to Donda would be exclusively released onto the Stem Player.[151]

Deluxe edition edit

On November 5, 2021, in an interview with N.O.R.E. on Drink Champs, West announced that a deluxe version of Donda was set to be released, teasing a song called "Let Go".[152][153] Eight days later, billboards advertising the deluxe edition appeared around Los Angeles.[154] On November 14, 2021, Donda (Deluxe) was released to streaming services.[48] Simultaneously, an explicit version of "Life of the Party" was released as a single from the deluxe edition.[155] The song charted at number 13 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[156] A 2xCD physical version of the deluxe edition was released on February 11, 2022.[157] A 4xLP deluxe gatefold version was released on vinyl on June 24, 2022.[158]

Listening events edit

 
 
 
Invites to "A Donda Listening Event" (left), "The Donda Album Release" (middle), and "The Donda Album Experience" (right). The first two were held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, while the latter was held at Soldier Field in Chicago.

To promote Donda prior to its release, West held a series of listening events. During the album's events, guest appearances from various artists were revealed, including Lil Baby, Playboi Carti, Pusha T, Jay-Z, Lil Yachty, Vory, KayCyy, Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Jay Electronica, Pop Smoke, the Sunday Service Choir, DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, and the Weeknd.[159][160][161] West had updated Donda after each listening event like he did with his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016), changing content such as the features on songs.[162] Speaking with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, Dean depicted the process as "interesting" and "gruelling", remembering "lots of hours" and changes, from which the album "came out great". He elaborated by explaining that "each listening party was like a test" of sorts, with West succeeding each one by taking all "the information he got from everyone, including online reviews [and] personal friends' reviews", then "digest[ing] it all" in a manner to "adjust" Donda "the way" he wanted.[163]

West held a private listening event for the album at ChurchLV in Las Vegas on July 18, 2021, which required registration and was invite-only. It started at 6:30 p.m. and finished at 8 p.m.[164] Clips of the event surfaced online showing West hunched over his laptop, wearing gloves and a ski mask over his head.[165][166] West played the music from his MacBook throughout, not speaking whatsoever.[167] Following the listening event, Revolt host Justin LaBoy posted a photo of himself with West and referred to Donda as album of the year.[166]

On July 19, 2021, it was announced that West would hold a public listening event for Donda, titled "Kanye West Presents: A Donda Listening Event", at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021.[168][169] It was set to start at 8 p.m. on the date, though the livestream began nearly two hours behind schedule on Apple Music.[168][170][171] West was completely silent throughout and paced the length of the stage at points, where he was unaccompanied. The listening event sold out Mercedes-Benz Stadium's 2021 capacity of 42,000, alongside setting a record for the biggest Apple Music livestream worldwide, with over 3.3 million viewers.[170][172]

Live Nation Entertainment confirmed at the end of July 2021 that the album's second listening event in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, titled "Kanye West Presents: The Donda Album Release", was set to take place on August 5.[173][174] It was scheduled to start at 9 p.m. on the date.[174] An Apple Music livestream commenced from West's room inside the stadium on the morning of August 5, 2021, leading up to the event,[159][175][176] which later began at 9:30 p.m.[42] The event was a grander presentation than its predecessor and on the circular stage, West's room was re-created.[159][176] West was positioned in the center throughout, wearing an all-black outfit and a mask.[160] The event ended with him being elevated to the ceiling of Mercedes-Benz Stadium by harness, in a manner reminiscent of ascending to heaven.[159][160] The listening party had over 40,000 attendees. It surpassed West's own record for the most popular livestream on Apple Music, drawing in 5.4 million viewers.[177] Following the event, Kid Cudi was reported to be featured on "Moon" and "Remote Control" alongside Don Toliver and Young Thug, respectively, though he was only included on the final version of the former on Donda.[45][178][56] However, the deluxe edition of the album included "Remote Control pt. 2" which contained Kid Cudi's verse.[179]

On August 18, 2021, West announced a third listening event for the album entitled "Kanye West Presents: The Donda Album Experience", which was scheduled to be hosted at Soldier Field in Chicago on August 26; the stadium's Twitter account simultaneously gave confirmation.[180][181] The event was slated to begin at 9 p.m.[180] On August 24, 2021, Chopper 7HD flew over Soldier Field, capturing the construction of a replica of West's childhood home at the stadium's center.[182] The event was livestreamed on Apple Music and started nearly two hours behind schedule, beginning at 10:49 p.m.[161][183] Kanye West appeared by coming out from the replica home while wearing an all-black outfit, accompanied by footage and photo collages of Donda.[184][185] West was joined on the porch of the home by Marilyn Manson and DaBaby.[184][186] For the event's conclusion, West came out of the replica home wearing a stunt suit after having been set on fire inside earlier and was quickly extinguished, unmasking himself to reunite with Kardashian.[161][187][188]

Soldier Field was limited from its standard capacity of 63,000 due to COVID-19 restrictions, with the listening event having an attendance of around 38,000.[189] On August 31, 2021, it was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times that the replica was used because Chicago's Buildings Department did not allow West to move his home from the street address, as originally intended. The department explained how moving a home in the city "is a very technical process that requires structural engineer reports and multiple city permits", revealing the denial of West's request was due to "no permit application ha[ving] been received to excavate and move the vacant property" while it was also in Demolition Court.[190]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?5.4/10[191]
Metacritic53/100[192]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [73]
The A.V. ClubC−[88]
The Daily Telegraph     [69]
Exclaim!7/10[78]
The Guardian     [81]
NME     [65]
Pitchfork6.0/10[71]
Rolling Stone     [82]
Slant Magazine     [79]

Donda was met with polarized reviews from music critics.[193] At Metacritic, the album received an weighted mean score of 53, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[192] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it a 5.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[191]

Charles Lyons-Burt of Slant Magazine felt impressed with Donda, believing it to feature West at "arguably the most vulnerable and broken that [he] has allowed himself to appear on record".[79] Lyons-Burt also praised the themes and production, and concluded by labeling the album West's "most unforgiving self-portrait yet".[79] Chris Willman from Variety saw its music as "close to unassailable" and praised the pacing, besides "those last four completely superfluous remixes", while he preferred the structure of the gospel elements to those on Jesus Is King.[74] For Consequence, Marchus Shorter hailed Donda as the rapper's best album since Yeezus, describing it as "ambitious, raw, indulgent, and, after several revisions, a cohesive vision".[67] Wallace regarded the album as "[West's] best body of work in recent memory" and appreciated the narrative behind it, though was mixed about the features and criticized the length.[78] Rhian Daly of NME felt assured the album "isn't a rushed job", although believed it could have been improved by West wasting less time and "learning when to let things go", finding there to be a large amount of filler alongside "enough gems" to make the album worthwhile.[65]

Wood asserted that Donda registers more as a way "of maintaining Kanye's powerful social standing" than "an organized aesthetic experience", characterizing it as feeling "slapdash" due to the disorganized themes.[64] He went on to praise how the album takes from West's various eras of the past, such as Yeezus, Jesus Is King, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and 808s & Heartbreak.[64] Paul Thompson of Rolling Stone saw that the album is "more considered and musically coherent" than any of West's projects over the preceding five years, though considered it to be uneven and too long, with a "radically superior second half".[82] Kornhaber gave the album a negative review, writing that "supposed transcendence comes to feel suspiciously like regression" while surrender feels like "self-exculpation".[63] He complained how the album "aches" for "a miracle to unfold" of similarity to the accompanying listening events and harshly asserted that it seems like "a career's worth of B-sides", despite crediting the highlights for being "pretty good".[63]

Criticism of guest artists edit

 
 
The inclusion of rapper DaBaby (left) and shock rock musician Marilyn Manson (right) as guest artists on Donda led to negative responses from critics.

The revelation of DaBaby and Marilyn Manson as guest artists during Donda's August 26 listening event was met with intense disapproval from critics due to the respective allegations of homophobia and sexual abuse against them.[113][194] According to Jem Aswad of Variety, "West was widely accused of trolling the public, among other things, after [the] event."[112] In response, as Ellen Durney of BuzzFeed News wrote, "some fans" suggested that the inclusion of DaBaby and Manson might have been West's "attempt at commentary on 'cancel culture'",[195] and Consequence writer Alex Young provided a similar presumption.[196] West defended DaBaby's presence, recalling him being "the only person who said he would vote for me in public".[113] An unspecified source told People about West's decision to work with the rapper and Marilyn Manson: "He knows that having controversial figures around will be provocative and will get people to talking." The source continued by opening up that West knows "people are going to be upset" and he will experience "backlash", and is also aware "people are talking about it today when they wouldn't have been otherwise".[113][197][198]

Marilyn Manson's former partner Evan Rachel Wood, who had accused him of sexual assault, "seem[ed] to respond" to his inclusion on Donda a few hours after its release, according to NME's Daly. She did this by posting a video of her covering New Radicals' "You Get What You Give" to Instagram, quoting its title and encouraging recent alleged fellow survivors "who got slapped in the face" to not give up.[199] Aaron Loose of Christianity Today slammed West's decision to work with Marilyn Manson and DaBaby as "an unforgivable insult to marginalised rap fans". Roisin O'Connor of The Independent criticized the presence of the former two, whom she describes as "two of music's most despised figures", finding their inclusion inexcusable. She condemned Universal Music for approving the album's release, noting that Marilyn Manson's appearance "speaks volumes of society's apathy towards rape survivors".[75]

Accolades edit

On Complex's list of the best albums of 2021, Donda was placed sixth.[200] Similarly, Time ranked the album at number seven on their list for the year.[201] On Caramanica's list of the best albums of 2021, the deluxe edition was placed at number 10. Caramanica said it "lives at the intersection" of West's Yeezus and Jesus eras, commenting that the "scabrous, churning production that sets a chaotic mood" is accompanied by "moments of intense searching, gasps for air amid the unrest".[202] Associated Press listed Donda as among the top 10 albums of the year.[203] Billboard placed it at number 39 on their "The 50 Best Albums of 2021: Staff List", with Heran Mamo declaring that West confronts his inner demons and "yearns for mercy without two key women" in his mother and Kardashian.[204]

Donda was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammy Awards, standing as one of the last two albums to be selected in the category. In the same ceremony, the album was nominated in the category of Best Rap Album. "Jail" and "Hurricane" won the awards of Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance, respectively, at the 2022 Grammys.[205]

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]

Track listing edit

Donda track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Donda Chant"
West0:52
2."Jail"
4:57
3."God Breathed"
  • West
  • E.Vax
  • Ojivolta
  • Arrow
  • Vindver[a]
  • Allday[a]
5:33
4."Off the Grid"
5:39
5."Hurricane"
4:03
6."Praise God"
3:47
7."Jonah"
3:15
8."Ok Ok"
3:25
9."Junya"
  • West
  • J. Carter
  • Pemberton
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Roark Bailey
  • Walsh
  • C. Young
  • Yusef
  • Thornton
  • Warren Trotter
  • Mills
  • East
2:28
10."Believe What I Say"
4:02
11."24"
  • West
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Mills
  • Mbogo
  • Yusef
  • Daniels
  • Miller
3:18
12."Remote Control"
3:19
13."Moon"
  • West
  • E.Vax
  • DJ Khalil[a]
  • BoogzDaBeast[a]
2:36
14."Heaven and Hell"
  • West
  • Njapa
  • Gwin
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Edgar Panford
  • Nima Jahanbin
  • Paimon Jahanbin
  • Andrew Dawson
  • C. Young
  • Yusef
  • Walsh
  • Wilder
  • T. Smith
  • Michael Oliver
  • West
  • 88-Keys
  • BoogzDaBeast
  • Ojivolta[a]
  • Nabeyin[a]
  • Wallis Lane[a]
  • Dawson[b]
2:25
15."Donda"
  • West
  • FnZ
  • Ojivolta
  • BoogzDaBeast
2:08
16."Keep My Spirit Alive"
  • West
  • FnZ
  • Ojivolta
  • Dem Jointz
  • BoogzDaBeast
  • Woodley
  • Nichols
3:41
17."Jesus Lord"
8:59
18."New Again"
  • West
  • Gwin
  • Abernathy
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • N. Jahanbin
  • P. Jahanbin
  • Jacqueline Cummings
  • Njapa
  • Yusef
  • Laraya Robinson
  • Magnus Lidehäll
  • Salem Al Fakir
  • West
  • BoogzDaBeast
  • Dem Jointz[a]
  • Ojivolta[a]
  • Wallis Lane[a]
  • Mia Wallis[a]
  • 88-Keys[b]
3:03
19."Tell the Vision"
  • West
  • Bashar Jackson
  • Gwin
  • Mule
  • De Boni
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Yusef
  • Thornton
  • Angie Martinez
  • Jalil Peraza
  • Luke Doyley
  • Ricardo Lamarre
  • Samuel Jackson
  • Thomas Whitfield
  • West
  • BoogzDaBeast
  • FnZ[a]
  • Ojivolta[a]
1:44
20."Lord I Need You"
2:42
21."Pure Souls"
5:59
22."Come to Life"
  • West
  • Bhasker
  • Walsh
  • Ojivolta
  • Campbell
  • M. Dean[a]
5:10
23."No Child Left Behind"
  • West
  • Hollins
  • Lévy
  • Gwin
  • Douglas Brown
  • Yusef
  • Frankie Smith
  • Jahshua Brown
  • West
  • Gesaffelstein
  • BoogzDaBeast
  • Cashmere Brown[b]
2:58
24."Jail pt 2"
  • West
  • 88-Keys
  • M. Dean
  • Ojivolta
  • Dem Jointz[a]
  • E.Vax[a]
  • Solymar[b]
4:57
25."Ok Ok pt 2"
  • West
  • Lee
  • Charles
  • Samuels
  • Louis Bell
  • Thornton
  • Ryles
  • C. Young
  • Yusef
  • Walsh
  • Wilder
  • T. Smith
  • East
3:25
26."Junya pt 2"
  • West
  • J. Carter
  • Tyrone Griffin, Jr.
  • Pemberton
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Bailey
  • Walsh
  • C. Young
  • Yusef
  • Thornton
  • Trotter
  • Mills
  • East
  • West
  • Digital Nas
  • Ojivolta
  • Bailey[b]
3:03
27."Jesus Lord pt 2"
11:31
Total length:108:49
Deluxe edition - Disc 1[235]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
28."Life of the Party" (with André 3000)
6:31
29."Up from the Ashes"
2:42
30."Never Abandon Your Family"
  • West
  • Bell
  • Yusef
  • Walsh
  • Daniels
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Evan Mast
  • West
  • Ojivolta
  • E.VAX
3:27
31."Remote Control pt 2"
  • West
  • J. Williams
  • Mescudi
  • T. Gomringer
  • K. Gomringer
  • Pemberton
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Njapa
  • M. Dean
  • Walton
  • C. Young
  • Yusef
  • West
  • Cubeatz
  • Digital Nas
  • Ojivolta
  • 88-Keys[a]
  • M. Dean[a]
  • Teddy Walton[b]
3:41
32."Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2"
  • West
  • Mbogo
  • Worthy
  • Price
  • Yusef
  • Parker
  • Mule
  • De Boni
  • M. Williams
  • Cubina
  • Abernathy
  • Gwin
  • Woodley
  • Nichols
  • West
  • FnZ
  • Ojivolta
  • Dem Jointz
  • BoogzDaBeast
  • Woodley
  • Nichols
3:41
Total length:130:52
  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer
  • ^[b] signifies an additional producer

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

Samples

Personnel edit

Musicians

  • Syleena Johnson – additional vocals (1)
  • Dem Jointz – additional vocals (2, 10, 24)
  • Sunday Service Choir – additional vocals (2, 5, 11, 15, 18,[54] 20, 27)
  • Justin Austin – additional vocals (3)
  • KayCyy – additional vocals (5, 11)
  • Donda West – additional vocals (6, 15)
  • Fivio Foreign – additional vocals (8, 25)
  • Buju Banton – additional vocals (10)
  • Stalone – additional vocals (10, 15)
  • MUSYCA Children's Choir – additional vocals (15)
  • The World Famous Tony Williams – additional vocals (15)
  • Larry Hoover Jr. – additional vocals (17, 27)
  • Briana Babineaux – additional vocals (20)
  • Sam Barsh – keyboards (5)
  • John Mease – keyboards (5)
  • Daniel Seeff – bass (5)
  • Cory Henry – organ (11)
  • Brandee Younger – harp (12)
  • Darius Woodley – drums (16)
  • Rico Nichols – drums (16)
  • Mark Williams – piano (22)
  • Nikki Grier – choir arrangement (2, 5, 11, 18, 20, 24)
  • Jason White – choir arrangement (2, 5, 11, 18, 20, 24)

Technical

  • Maurizio "Irko" Sera – mix engineering, master engineering (all tracks)
  • Mike Dean – mix engineering (1–7, 9, 11–16, 18, 20–21, 23–24, 26)
  • Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawsøn – record engineering (1–9, 11–18, 20–22, 24–27)
  • Enzo Rarri – record engineering (1, 3, 23, 27)
  • Will Chason – record engineering (1, 4, 6–9, 15, 20, 23, 25–26), assistant record engineering (12–13)
  • Ronald Lark III – record engineering (2)
  • Gimel Keaton – record engineering (2, 24)
  • Josh Berg – record engineering (2–27)
  • Mikalai Skrobat – record engineering (2–18, 20–22, 24–27)
  • Roark Bailey – record engineering (3–9, 12–13, 21, 26)
  • Dem Jointz – record engineering (10, 15)
  • Drrique Rendeer – record engineering (4, 13, 17, 27)
  • James Kelso – record engineering (4, 13, 17, 27)
  • Jonathan Pfarr – record engineering (12, 15, 20, 24)
  • Randy Urbanski – record engineering (3, 20)
  • Lorenzo Wolff – record engineering (4)
  • Shin Kamiyama – record engineering (5)
  • Zack Djurich – record engineering (5)
  • Jesse Ray Ernster – record engineering (5)
  • Devon Wilson – record engineering (5, 6, 10), mix assistance (6)
  • Wilson "Zaigo" Mejia – record engineering (7)
  • Gentuar Memishi – record engineering (8)
  • Henry Russell Walter – record engineering (14, 22), vocal editing (9, 26), vocal production (12)
  • Preston Reid – record engineering (10)
  • Angad Bains – record engineering (12)
  • Federico Vindver – record engineering (15), vocal production (15)
  • Nagaris Johnson – record engineering (15)
  • Todd Bergman – record engineering (15, 20)
  • Kalam Ali Muttalib – record engineering (16)
  • Sharif Shannon- mix assistance (4,6)
  • Rashade Benani Bevel – record engineering (16)
  • Jess Jackson – record engineering (19)
  • Scott McDowell – record engineering (23)
  • Rafael Fai Baautista – record engineering (26), mix assistance (26)
  • Louis Bell – vocal editing (2–8, 10–12, 14, 16–18, 20–22, 24–25, 27)
  • Patrick Hundley – vocal editing (3–5, 9–11, 13–14, 16, 21, 24, 26–27)
  • Stef Moro – mix assistance (3, 22)

Charts edit

Certifications edit

Certifications and sales for Donda
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[214] Platinum 80,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[230] Platinum 20,000‡
France (SNEP)[294] Gold 50,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[295] Gold 25,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[216] Platinum 15,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[296] Platinum 20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[297] Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[212] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Kanye West Is Working on a New Album Titled 'God's Country'". GQ Australia. May 25, 2020. from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Blistein, Jon (July 21, 2020). "Kanye West Shares Release Date, Track List for New Album 'Donda'". Rolling Stone. from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Kanye West: Donda released by Universal without my say, artist claims". BBC News. August 30, 2021. from the original on August 30, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  4. ^ Fu, Eddie (July 22, 2020). "Kanye West Claims His New Album 'Donda: With Child' Is Dropping On Friday Alongside A Movie". Genius. MediaLab. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Romano, Aja (September 3, 2021). "Donda: The hype, the controversy, the music, the Kanye of it all, explained". Vox. from the original on September 3, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
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January 01, 1970
donda, other, uses, disambiguation, tenth, studio, album, american, rapper, kanye, west, released, through, good, music, august, 2021, with, distribution, handled, recordings, final, release, with, label, album, features, wide, range, guest, performances, from. For other uses see Donda disambiguation 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 Andre 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 DondaThe Donda album art a plain black squareStudio album by Kanye WestReleasedAugust 29 2021 2021 08 29 RecordedSeptember 2018 November 2019 August 2021StudioBighorn Mountain Ranch Greybull Wyoming Gargamel Music Kingston Jamaica Island Sound Honolulu Pio Pico Art Gallery Los Angeles Mercedes Benz Stadium Atlanta St Regis San Francisco San Francisco Hyde Street Studios San Francisco GenreHip hop gospel progressive rap popLength108 48 130 52 Deluxe edition LabelGOOD Def JamProducerKanye West30 Roc88 KeysAll DayAngel LopezArrowAyoAABoi 1daBoogzDaBeastCirkutCory HenryCubeatzDem JointzDigital NasDJ KhalilDrtWrkE VaxFederico VindverFonzworth BentleyGesaffelsteinJeff BhaskerLouis BellMike DeanOjivoltaRonny JSean LeonSwizz BeatzTeddy WaltonTimbalandTT AudiThe Twilite ToneWarryn CampbellWheezyKanye West chronologyJesus Is King 2019 Donda 2021 Donda 2 2022 Singles from Donda Hurricane Released September 14 2021 Life of the Party Released November 14 2021 Believe What I Say Released November 30 2021 Off the Grid Released November 30 2021 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 Contents 1 Background 2 Recording 2 1 Songs 3 Music and lyrics 4 Songs 5 Release and promotion 5 1 Cover art 5 2 Streaming performance and updates 5 3 Donda Stem Player 5 4 Deluxe edition 6 Listening events 7 Critical reception 7 1 Criticism of guest artists 7 2 Accolades 8 Commercial performance 9 Track listing 10 Personnel 11 Charts 11 1 Weekly charts 11 2 Year end charts 12 Certifications 13 See also 14 References 15 External linksBackground editDuring a conversation with French fashion designer Michele 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 Recording editThe recording sessions began a month after Jesus Is King was released 14 Producer BoogzDaBeast recalled that he was called in to Wyoming with West telling him Man we re going back in we re about to do a new album Let s keep this going 14 BoogzDaBeast came to Wyoming with 166 beats which the producer clarified that they were mostly unfinished ideas 14 Of those 166 ideas West freestyled over 99 of them in what the producer calls That One Night in Wyoming Songs such as Wash Us in the Blood which was originally set for release on Donda in 2020 but was left off the final album and Lord I Need You were originally conceived during said session 15 In March 2020 West recorded new music in Cabo San Lucas Mexico before returning to Wyoming with his family due to the COVID 19 pandemic 16 That same month GOOD Music president Pusha T stated in a Discord interview that he had been recording with West recently Pusha T was planning to meet with West on March 16 2020 to complete a project but cited flights slowing down due to COVID travel restrictions as the reason for a delay 17 On March 12 2020 rappers Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine were spotted in Wyoming recording material with West 18 Westside Gunn would later confirm his collaboration with West in an interview for Elliot Wilson on Tidal alongside recalling that they were set to travel to Cabo San Lucas after recording in Wyoming until the COVID 19 pandemic canceled their plans 19 West held further recording sessions at Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull Wyoming which he bought for 14 5 million The ranch spans over 6 700 acres covering a larger area than the Monster Lake Ranch property in Wyoming that West previously bought 20 West flew Lil Baby out to Wyoming to record for Donda on July 22 2020 following on from him tweeting Lil Baby my favorite rapper but won t do a song with me 21 22 The rapper ended up recording his verse for Hurricane after Kenyan American rapper KayCyy suggested to him that he should contribute to it 23 In September 2020 West recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn at Gargamel Studio in Jamaica 24 25 On March 8 2021 Cyhi the Prynce stated in an interview with VladTV that West had resumed work on Donda amid his divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian 26 On May 30 West was joined in the studio by fellow rapper Playboi Carti 27 On June 14 2021 court documents were obtained revealing that West was recording for the album in Honolulu Hawaii where he held sessions at Island Sound Studio after reportedly freaking out during his deposition in an ongoing lawsuit with tech company MyChannel 28 29 30 Singer songwriter Syleena Johnson worked on music in San Francisco around a month later indicating via an Instagram post that she was collaborating with West 31 Speaking for Cocktails with Queens on Fox Soul Johnson said she recorded the song Donda Chant as well as vocals for another track that ended up not getting used in said session 32 nbsp West held recording sessions inside Mercedes Benz Stadium taking up temporary residence in the locker rooms for studio spaces and living areas After holding a listening event for Donda at Mercedes Benz Stadium on July 22 2021 West took up temporary residence in one of the locker rooms converting it into a studio for finishing the recording and mixing with producer Mike Dean 33 34 35 Playboi Carti Jay Z and 2 Chainz joined West for recording in the room with West posting a photo to Instagram of himself and the former there a day before the event 33 36 37 Jay Z reportedly recorded his verse for Jail mere hours prior to the listening event 38 39 After failing to meet the album s scheduled release date of July 23 West continued to record and live in Mercedes Benz Stadium up until the second listening party held there on August 5 2021 40 41 24 hours before the second listening event commenced West and several other artists could be seen recording among doing numerous other activities during an Apple Music livestream 42 43 Songs edit nbsp nbsp Chris Brown left and Soulja Boy right both publicly made comments aimed at West due to the controversial removal of their respective verses from the album Hurricane was originally previewed via Instagram by West in September 2018 and also leaked online initially being intended for his scrapped album Yandhi 44 After the song was first previewed it went through various iterations with contributions from artists such as KayCyy Big Sean and American musician Ty Dolla Sign 23 45 of which the latter would feature on Junya pt 2 However none of their contributions made the final cut of Hurricane and they would be replaced with Lil Baby and Canadian singer the Weeknd 46 A song titled Never Abandon Your Family was previewed at the first two listening events for Donda on July 22 and August 6 2021 47 Although the song was not included on the first version of the album 47 it later appeared on the deluxe edition 48 Donda which was initially titled South Carolina when previewed at the aforementioned listening parties originally featured a verse where West traded bars with Pusha T The verse contained references to West s South Carolina rally from his 2020 presidential campaign 45 49 The song New Again featuring vocals from R amp B singer Chris Brown on the chorus originally included a verse performed by the singer that he later leaked after publicly calling West a whole hoe 50 51 52 Several critics expressed negative responses to West s choice to remove the verse including the co host of The Breakfast Club Charlamagne tha God that defined the verse discard as a poor choice musically 53 On September 28 2021 the song was updated on streaming services with Brown being replaced by West and the Sunday Service Choir 54 Rapper Soulja Boy originally recorded a verse for the track Remote Control although he was not included on the final version of the song being replaced with fellow rapper Young Thug 55 56 Following the album s release Soulja Boy shared a snippet of his verse to Twitter with the caption of the post reading Fuck Kanye 55 In November 2021 West apologized to Soulja Boy for removing the verse without informing him though insisted he did so because it was bad 57 Fellow rapper Andre 3000 also recorded a verse for an unreleased track entitled Life of the Party which had been previewed at a listening event for Donda in Las Vegas In the song West disses Canadian musician Drake who leaked the song in retaliation amidst a feud between them Andre 3000 lamented the feud stating that his verse was written before West s diss 58 59 The song was later released on the deluxe version of the album with the Drake diss replaced by an alternate verse from West 48 On September 7 2021 DJ Akademiks shared a screenshot of a conversation between West and an unnamed engineer that worked on Donda showing West firing the engineer after no response to his morning message to start work 60 On September 14 2021 American multi instrumentalist Todd Rundgren revealed he had recorded heavily for it and was tolerant of West delving into different subjects but became frustrated with the rapper after a lack of feedback about his material Rundgren also assumed it should be made clear if he can contribute or not and saw a possibility he is actually in there somewhere among the album s junk concluding by branding West a dilettante 61 On September 24 2021 after multiple artists had revealed that contributions to Donda from them were scrapped West s sound engineer Nikolai Skrobat revealed that an upcoming playlist consisting of forgotten tracks from West s discography may include the album s unreleased material 62 Music and lyrics editDonda 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 amp 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 editThe 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 amp 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 amp 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 nbsp New Again source source track An 18 second sample of the original version of New Again a hip house track that features West and Chris Brown touching on salvation and offering repentance tying in with the religious theme of Donda 72 79 86 Problems playing this file See media help 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 Release and promotion editOn June 26 2020 West unveiled a collaboration between his fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap and also launched the WestDayEver promotional campaign on Twitter that accompanied announcements of different projects 89 One of the projects was a music video for the track Wash Us in the Blood that features fellow rapper Travis Scott directed by Jafa the video was released simultaneously with the song on June 30 following a teaser in which West officially announced the album s title as God s Country 89 90 The track was set to be included on Donda but did not appear on the final track listing 91 5 On July 13 2020 Kanye shared a snippet on Twitter of a song titled Donda which featured his late mother Donda West reciting KRS One s Sound of da Police 1993 and was accompanied by archival footage including the Wests rapping together 92 The song was replaced with another track also titled Donda on the final track listing On September 26 2020 West shared a 39 second snippet of the track Believe What I Say to Twitter 93 West later released a song entitled Nah Nah Nah on October 26 calling the song his 2020 presidential campaign s theme music it includes him referencing his candidacy 94 On November 13 2020 West released a remix of Nah Nah Nah that features fellow rappers DaBaby and 2 Chainz 95 After the original and remix were both removed from streaming services in the lead up to Donda s release neither of them made the final cut 96 73 On July 20 2021 Audio products company Beats by Dre premiered a commercial during game six of the 2021 NBA Finals with athlete Sha Carri Richardson scored by West s track No Child Left Behind 97 The commercial also showed the release date for Donda as July 23 2021 and marked one of the first snippets of the music 97 87 French producer Gesaffelstein later revealed that he produced the song marking his second time working with West after having previously contributed to the rapper s sixth studio album Yeezus 2013 98 Directly after the commercial s debut Def Jam reaffirmed the album s release date 99 In late July 2021 a representative for West announced a release date of August 6 for Donda 100 101 which was later confirmed via both a Beats by Dre commercial and West s Apple Music livestream 102 103 A day prior to this a pre order for the album was launched on iTunes revealing it to feature 24 songs along with a release date of August 27 2021 before the date was revised to six days later 104 105 Conflictingly Apple Music displayed the release date to be August 15 before one set for five days later appeared on the service 104 106 On August 20 2021 the service listed a release date of August 28 one day after Donda s third listening party Thiam reaffirmed that the release would come after the event 107 A day before the scheduled release Donda s release date experienced another pushback on Apple Music setting it to coincide with the release of Drake s sixth studio album Certified Lover Boy on September 3 2021 108 It was speculated across social media that the delay was intentional to increase competition between the two artists 108 109 On August 29 2021 Donda was released by GOOD Music distributed by Def Jam succeeding several delays during that month 5 110 It stood as West s last release with the latter label after his contract expired 111 Jail pt 2 was originally not able to be played showing up on the Spotify version of the album as an unavailable track after DaBaby s manager had not cleared his verse prior to release 110 112 Hours after its official release West claimed that Universal Music had released Donda without his approval and blocked Jail pt 2 from appearing on the album 3 6 The song later became available on streaming services including Tidal and Spotify 110 113 Universal Music denied having either released the album without West s approval or blocked the release of Jail pt 2 with an anonymous source at the company calling his claims preposterous 6 114 115 On September 3 2021 Hurricane was playlisted by Swedish mainstream station Sveriges Radio P3 116 The song was sent to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations by GOOD Music and Def Jam as the lead single from Donda on September 14 2021 117 Following the album s release the song entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number six giving West his 19th top 10 hit on the chart 118 It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA for amassing 1 000 000 certified units in the US on January 10 2022 119 Hurricane reached number 12 on the Swedish Singles Chart with it debuting five places higher on the UK Singles Chart 120 121 On November 30 2021 Believe What I Say and Off the Grid were released as singles to US rhythmic and urban contemporary radio stations respectively through Good Music and Def Jam 122 123 On the Hot 100 the former charted at number 28 118 Off the Grid debuted at number 11 on the chart alongside reaching number 15 on the UK Singles Chart 118 121 On November 8 2021 the song was awarded a gold certification by the RIAA for pushing 500 000 certified units in the US 124 West purchased many large billboards to advertise Donda in Drake s hometown of Toronto during September 2021 outnumbering the ones used for Certified Lover Boy on the day of its release 125 A music video for Come to Life was released on September 2 2021 The visual features footage from the album s third listening event at Soldier Field showing West setting on fire then reuniting with Kardashian 126 A music video for 24 was released two weeks after the one for Come to Life and begins with footage from Donda s second Mercedes Benz Stadium listening event of West ascending towards the sky before he rises above the stadium and floats around among clouds 127 A clip for Donda Chant was shared exclusively to Instagram by West on September 19 2021 The black and white visual incorporates aerial footage from the album s Soldier Field listening event that shows the replica of Kanye West s childhood home on which flashes of old pictures of Donda are projected 128 On October 16 2021 West performed a four song set for Tiffany amp Co executive Alexandre Arnault and D estree founder Geralde Guyot after their wedding in Venice Italy which included Come to Life and Believe What I Say 129 He debuted a music video for Heaven and Hell during the College Football Playoff National Championship game on January 10 2022 The visual has a night setting and shows people wearing new Yeezy Gap hoodies wandering around a city it concludes with floating bodies spiralling through the skies 130 Cover art edit nbsp Initial cover art shared by West in July 2020 and designed by Pierre Louis Auvray nbsp Second proposed cover showcasing an adaptation of a Louise Bourgeois painting from 2007 nbsp The opened CD jewel case of Donda which including the disc itself is entirely plain black On July 25 2020 West tweeted out an album cover 131 showing an infrared scheme of orange and red mirroring the shape of the people sun and moon in the sky backed by green mountains alongside purple and white clouds designed by Pierre Louis Auvray 90 In the lead up to the first Donda listening event on July 22 2021 a possible replacement cover was used as the promo artwork The cover was an adaptation of a Louise Bourgeois gouache painting that had been created in 2007 the same year as Donda West s death and included in Bourgeois series Les tetes bleues et les femmes rouges 2015 132 133 In the painting a woman is shown in monochromatic red and a matching ponytail flows behind her while a fertility idol is also partially present 132 133 After Kanye West posted numerous potential covers a plain black square was ultimately used as the artwork for the album 134 Streaming performance and updates edit In its first day of release Donda earned the second biggest global Spotify debut for album streams ever with nearly 100 million streams and broke the record for the biggest first day streams of 2021 on the service that was set by Olivia Rodrigo s Sour 135 136 The album also set a new record by reaching number one on Apple Music s top albums chart in 152 countries in its first day and earned the third biggest first day debut streams for an album Donda broke the 2021 record for the most streamed album in one day on Apple Music while 19 of the top 20 tracks on the service s Top 100 Global songs chart were from the album 137 Donda amassed 60 million first day streams in the United States on Apple setting a streaming record for 2021 in the country 138 After eight days of streaming it had reached around 423 million on demand audio streams in the US 139 25 of the tracks debuted with the top 40 of Spotify s U S chart with 10 of them occupying the top 10 135 The album s 2021 record for first day Spotify streams was broken by Certified Lover Boy which also surpassed its eight day total of US on demand audio streams within three days amassing over 430 million streams 139 140 By October 26 the former had amassed over a billion streams on Spotify becoming West s fastest album to achieve this milestone 141 On September 28 2021 West released an updated version of Donda separately from the original on streaming services 54 142 The changes included the removal of KayCyy and Brown from Keep My Spirit Alive and New Again respectively Brown s writing credits were also removed from the latter 142 West replaced KayCyy on the former while he and the Sunday Service Choir appeared in place of Brown on New Again 54 Donda Stem Player edit Main article Stem Player On August 25 2021 West announced the Donda Stem Player via his website a standalone music player allowing users to remix the album s songs using their stems 143 144 145 Users are also given the ability to control vocals drums bass and samples isolate parts and add effects 143 144 146 The player was announced as being set to be released by West s brand Yeezy Tech in collaboration with Kano Computing and sold for 200 144 145 147 On October 27 2021 the Donda Stem Player was made available by West with three extra songs being included The new songs are a censored edit of Life of the Party Up from the Ashes and an updated version of Never Abandon Your Family In addition the player contains a version of Remote Control that re adds Kid Cudi s original contribution 148 149 On November 17 2021 the Donda Stem Player website was updated to include downloadable stems for Jesus Is King On December 10 2021 stems for Wash Us in the Blood were added in an update 150 In February 2022 West announced that the sequel to Donda would be exclusively released onto the Stem Player 151 Deluxe edition edit On November 5 2021 in an interview with N O R E on Drink Champs West announced that a deluxe version of Donda was set to be released teasing a song called Let Go 152 153 Eight days later billboards advertising the deluxe edition appeared around Los Angeles 154 On November 14 2021 Donda Deluxe was released to streaming services 48 Simultaneously an explicit version of Life of the Party was released as a single from the deluxe edition 155 The song charted at number 13 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart 156 A 2xCD physical version of the deluxe edition was released on February 11 2022 157 A 4xLP deluxe gatefold version was released on vinyl on June 24 2022 158 Listening events edit nbsp nbsp nbsp Invites to A Donda Listening Event left The Donda Album Release middle and The Donda Album Experience right The first two were held at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta while the latter was held at Soldier Field in Chicago To promote Donda prior to its release West held a series of listening events During the album s events guest appearances from various artists were revealed including Lil Baby Playboi Carti Pusha T Jay Z Lil Yachty Vory KayCyy Westside Gunn Conway the Machine Jay Electronica Pop Smoke the Sunday Service Choir DaBaby Marilyn Manson and the Weeknd 159 160 161 West had updated Donda after each listening event like he did with his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo 2016 changing content such as the features on songs 162 Speaking with Apple Music s Zane Lowe Dean depicted the process as interesting and gruelling remembering lots of hours and changes from which the album came out great He elaborated by explaining that each listening party was like a test of sorts with West succeeding each one by taking all the information he got from everyone including online reviews and personal friends reviews then digest ing it all in a manner to adjust Donda the way he wanted 163 West held a private listening event for the album at ChurchLV in Las Vegas on July 18 2021 which required registration and was invite only It started at 6 30 p m and finished at 8 p m 164 Clips of the event surfaced online showing West hunched over his laptop wearing gloves and a ski mask over his head 165 166 West played the music from his MacBook throughout not speaking whatsoever 167 Following the listening event Revolt host Justin LaBoy posted a photo of himself with West and referred to Donda as album of the year 166 On July 19 2021 it was announced that West would hold a public listening event for Donda titled Kanye West Presents A Donda Listening Event at Mercedes Benz Stadium on July 22 2021 168 169 It was set to start at 8 p m on the date though the livestream began nearly two hours behind schedule on Apple Music 168 170 171 West was completely silent throughout and paced the length of the stage at points where he was unaccompanied The listening event sold out Mercedes Benz Stadium s 2021 capacity of 42 000 alongside setting a record for the biggest Apple Music livestream worldwide with over 3 3 million viewers 170 172 Live Nation Entertainment confirmed at the end of July 2021 that the album s second listening event in Mercedes Benz Stadium titled Kanye West Presents The Donda Album Release was set to take place on August 5 173 174 It was scheduled to start at 9 p m on the date 174 An Apple Music livestream commenced from West s room inside the stadium on the morning of August 5 2021 leading up to the event 159 175 176 which later began at 9 30 p m 42 The event was a grander presentation than its predecessor and on the circular stage West s room was re created 159 176 West was positioned in the center throughout wearing an all black outfit and a mask 160 The event ended with him being elevated to the ceiling of Mercedes Benz Stadium by harness in a manner reminiscent of ascending to heaven 159 160 The listening party had over 40 000 attendees It surpassed West s own record for the most popular livestream on Apple Music drawing in 5 4 million viewers 177 Following the event Kid Cudi was reported to be featured on Moon and Remote Control alongside Don Toliver and Young Thug respectively though he was only included on the final version of the former on Donda 45 178 56 However the deluxe edition of the album included Remote Control pt 2 which contained Kid Cudi s verse 179 On August 18 2021 West announced a third listening event for the album entitled Kanye West Presents The Donda Album Experience which was scheduled to be hosted at Soldier Field in Chicago on August 26 the stadium s Twitter account simultaneously gave confirmation 180 181 The event was slated to begin at 9 p m 180 On August 24 2021 Chopper 7HD flew over Soldier Field capturing the construction of a replica of West s childhood home at the stadium s center 182 The event was livestreamed on Apple Music and started nearly two hours behind schedule beginning at 10 49 p m 161 183 Kanye West appeared by coming out from the replica home while wearing an all black outfit accompanied by footage and photo collages of Donda 184 185 West was joined on the porch of the home by Marilyn Manson and DaBaby 184 186 For the event s conclusion West came out of the replica home wearing a stunt suit after having been set on fire inside earlier and was quickly extinguished unmasking himself to reunite with Kardashian 161 187 188 Soldier Field was limited from its standard capacity of 63 000 due to COVID 19 restrictions with the listening event having an attendance of around 38 000 189 On August 31 2021 it was reported by the Chicago Sun Times that the replica was used because Chicago s Buildings Department did not allow West to move his home from the street address as originally intended The department explained how moving a home in the city is a very technical process that requires structural engineer reports and multiple city permits revealing the denial of West s request was due to no permit application ha ving been received to excavate and move the vacant property while it was also in Demolition Court 190 Critical reception editProfessional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRatingAnyDecentMusic 5 4 10 191 Metacritic53 100 192 Review scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 73 The A V ClubC 88 The Daily Telegraph nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 69 Exclaim 7 10 78 The Guardian nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 81 NME nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 65 Pitchfork6 0 10 71 Rolling Stone nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 82 Slant Magazine nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 79 Donda was met with polarized reviews from music critics 193 At Metacritic the album received an weighted mean score of 53 based on 19 critics indicating mixed or average reviews 192 Aggregator AnyDecentMusic gave it a 5 4 out of 10 based on their assessment of the critical consensus 191 Charles Lyons Burt of Slant Magazine felt impressed with Donda believing it to feature West at arguably the most vulnerable and broken that he has allowed himself to appear on record 79 Lyons Burt also praised the themes and production and concluded by labeling the album West s most unforgiving self portrait yet 79 Chris Willman from Variety saw its music as close to unassailable and praised the pacing besides those last four completely superfluous remixes while he preferred the structure of the gospel elements to those on Jesus Is King 74 For Consequence Marchus Shorter hailed Donda as the rapper s best album since Yeezus describing it as ambitious raw indulgent and after several revisions a cohesive vision 67 Wallace regarded the album as West s best body of work in recent memory and appreciated the narrative behind it though was mixed about the features and criticized the length 78 Rhian Daly of NME felt assured the album isn t a rushed job although believed it could have been improved by West wasting less time and learning when to let things go finding there to be a large amount of filler alongside enough gems to make the album worthwhile 65 Wood asserted that Donda registers more as a way of maintaining Kanye s powerful social standing than an organized aesthetic experience characterizing it as feeling slapdash due to the disorganized themes 64 He went on to praise how the album takes from West s various eras of the past such as Yeezus Jesus Is King My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and 808s amp Heartbreak 64 Paul Thompson of Rolling Stone saw that the album is more considered and musically coherent than any of West s projects over the preceding five years though considered it to be uneven and too long with a radically superior second half 82 Kornhaber gave the album a negative review writing that supposed transcendence comes to feel suspiciously like regression while surrender feels like self exculpation 63 He complained how the album aches for a miracle to unfold of similarity to the accompanying listening events and harshly asserted that it seems like a career s worth of B sides despite crediting the highlights for being pretty good 63 Criticism of guest artists edit nbsp nbsp The inclusion of rapper DaBaby left and shock rock musician Marilyn Manson right as guest artists on Donda led to negative responses from critics The revelation of DaBaby and Marilyn Manson as guest artists during Donda s August 26 listening event was met with intense disapproval from critics due to the respective allegations of homophobia and sexual abuse against them 113 194 According to Jem Aswad of Variety West was widely accused of trolling the public among other things after the event 112 In response as Ellen Durney of BuzzFeed News wrote some fans suggested that the inclusion of DaBaby and Manson might have been West s attempt at commentary on cancel culture 195 and Consequence writer Alex Young provided a similar presumption 196 West defended DaBaby s presence recalling him being the only person who said he would vote for me in public 113 An unspecified source told People about West s decision to work with the rapper and Marilyn Manson He knows that having controversial figures around will be provocative and will get people to talking The source continued by opening up that West knows people are going to be upset and he will experience backlash and is also aware people are talking about it today when they wouldn t have been otherwise 113 197 198 Marilyn Manson s former partner Evan Rachel Wood who had accused him of sexual assault seem ed to respond to his inclusion on Donda a few hours after its release according to NME s Daly She did this by posting a video of her covering New Radicals You Get What You Give to Instagram quoting its title and encouraging recent alleged fellow survivors who got slapped in the face to not give up 199 Aaron Loose of Christianity Today slammed West s decision to work with Marilyn Manson and DaBaby as an unforgivable insult to marginalised rap fans Roisin O Connor of The Independent criticized the presence of the former two whom she describes as two of music s most despised figures finding their inclusion inexcusable She condemned Universal Music for approving the album s release noting that Marilyn Manson s appearance speaks volumes of society s apathy towards rape survivors 75 Accolades edit On Complex s list of the best albums of 2021 Donda was placed sixth 200 Similarly Time ranked the album at number seven on their list for the year 201 On Caramanica s list of the best albums of 2021 the deluxe edition was placed at number 10 Caramanica said it lives at the intersection of West s Yeezus and Jesus eras commenting that the scabrous churning production that sets a chaotic mood is accompanied by moments of intense searching gasps for air amid the unrest 202 Associated Press listed Donda as among the top 10 albums of the year 203 Billboard placed it at number 39 on their The 50 Best Albums of 2021 Staff List with Heran Mamo declaring that West confronts his inner demons and yearns for mercy without two key women in his mother and Kardashian 204 Donda was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammy Awards standing as one of the last two albums to be selected in the category In the same ceremony the album was nominated in the category of Best Rap Album Jail and Hurricane won the awards of Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance respectively at the 2022 Grammys 205 Commercial performance editDonda 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 amp 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 Track listing editDonda track listingNo TitleWriter s Producer s Length1 Donda Chant Kanye WestSyleena JohnsonMalik YusefWest0 522 Jail WestShawn CarterCharles NjapaMichael DeanMark WilliamsRaul CubinaDwayne Abernathy Jr Sean SolymarYusefJohn MoylettWarryn CampbellWest88 KeysMike DeanOjivoltaDem Jointz a E Vax a Solymar b 4 573 God Breathed WestTavoris Hollins Jr Evan MastM WilliamsCubinaAaron ButtsFederico VindverBrian MillerRichard McGuireYusufDennis YoungSalvatore PrincipatoScott HartleyWestE VaxOjivoltaArrowVindver a Allday a 5 334 Off the Grid WestJordan CarterMaxie Ryles IIISamuel GloadeAsif AswadM WilliamsCubinaBilly WalshDavid RuoffElias KlughammerEric SloanCydel YoungYusefOrlando WilderTobias SmithWest30 RocOjivoltaAyoAADavid amp Eli a Sloane b 5 395 Hurricane WestAbel TesfayeDominique JonesM DeanJahmal GwinKhalil Abdul RahmanRonald Spence Jr Henry WalterM WilliamsCubinaNjapaChristopher RuelasMark MbogoNasir PembertonSam BarshJosh MeaseC YoungYusefWilderAlbert DanielsCailin RussoDaniel SeeffDexter MillsT SmithWestM DeanBoogzDaBeastDJ KhalilRonny JCirkut a Ojivolta a 88 Keys b Nascent b 4 036 Praise God WestJacques Webster IIHykeem Carter Jr GloadeM WilliamsCubinaM DeanAnthony KhanAqeel TateE SloanMbogoYusefChe SmithKazuhiko KatoMachiko RyuWest30 RocOjivoltaM Dean a The Twilite Tone a Zen Taichi a Sloane b 3 477 Jonah WestHollinsDurk BanksLeonard HarrisYusefTahrence BrownMichael SuskiM DeanWesley GlassMillsWilderWestAudiDrtWrkM Dean b Wheezy b 3 158 Ok Ok WestMiles McCollumDenzel CharlesMatthew SamuelsLouis BellTerrence ThorntonRylesC YoungYusefWalshWilderT SmithRennard EastWestBoi 1daBell a 3 259 Junya WestJ CarterPembertonM WilliamsCubinaRoark BaileyWalshC YoungYusefThorntonWarren TrotterMillsEastWestDigital NasOjivoltaBailey b 2 2810 Believe What I Say WestAbernathyGwinMichael MuleIsaac De BonuM WilliamsCubinaAnthony ReidC YoungYusefLauryn HillMark MyrieWalshAdam WrightCristina GalloWestDem JointzBoogzDaBeast a FnZ a Ojivolta a Antman Wonder b 4 0211 24 WestM WilliamsCubinaMillsMbogoYusefDanielsMillerWestOjivoltaAlldayCory Henry a Warryn Campbell a 3 1812 Remote Control WestJeffery WilliamsTim GomringerKevin GomringerPembertonM WilliamsCubinaNjapaM DeanTravis WaltonC YoungYusefWestCubeatzDigital NasOjivolta88 Keys a M Dean a Teddy Walton b 3 1913 Moon WestCaleb ToliverScott MescudiMastRahmanGwinYusefWestE VaxDJ Khalil a BoogzDaBeast a 2 3614 Heaven and Hell WestNjapaGwinM WilliamsCubinaEdgar PanfordNima JahanbinPaimon JahanbinAndrew DawsonC YoungYusefWalshWilderT SmithMichael OliverWest88 KeysBoogzDaBeastOjivolta a Nabeyin a Wallis Lane a Dawson b 2 2515 Donda WestMuleDe BoniM WilliamsCubinaGwinYusefCatherine BollingerJohn TrainumWestFnZOjivoltaBoogzDaBeast2 0816 Keep My Spirit Alive WestAlvin WorthyDemond PriceMbogoYusefLawrence ParkerMuleDe BoniM WilliamsCubinaAbernathyGwinDarius WoodleyRico NicholsWestFnZOjivoltaDem JointzBoogzDaBeastWoodleyNichols3 4117 Jesus Lord WestElpadaro AllahKasseem DeanMike LevyYusefM DeanLarry Hoover Jr WestSwizz BeatzGesaffelstein a M Dean a 8 5918 New Again WestGwinAbernathyM WilliamsCubinaN JahanbinP JahanbinJacqueline CummingsNjapaYusefLaraya RobinsonMagnus LidehallSalem Al FakirWestBoogzDaBeastDem Jointz a Ojivolta a Wallis Lane a Mia Wallis a 88 Keys b 3 0319 Tell the Vision WestBashar JacksonGwinMuleDe BoniM WilliamsCubinaYusefThorntonAngie MartinezJalil PerazaLuke DoyleyRicardo LamarreSamuel JacksonThomas WhitfieldWestBoogzDaBeastFnZ a Ojivolta a 1 4420 Lord I Need You WestGwinMastMuleDe BoniGlassM WilliamsCubinaLee StashenkoCarlos St John PhillipsAnthony Williams IIGarciaAlexanderWestBoogzDaBeastE Vax a FnZ a Wheezy a Ojivolta b Fallen b 2 4221 Pure Souls WestRodrick Moore Jr Chinsea LeeGwinM DeanM WilliamsCubinaWilderChristoph BaussTim FriedrichBastian VolkelC YoungYusefTyshane ThompsonRaphael SaadiqSimon PlummerDonny FloresTrotterMillsHarrisWestBoogzDaBeastM Dean a Ojivolta a Fya Man a Shuko a Sucuki a Volkel b 5 5922 Come to Life WestJeff BhaskerWalshM WilliamsCubinaCampbellM DeanYusefWestBhaskerWalshOjivoltaCampbellM Dean a 5 1023 No Child Left Behind WestHollinsLevyGwinDouglas BrownYusefFrankie SmithJahshua BrownWestGesaffelsteinBoogzDaBeastCashmere Brown b 2 5824 Jail pt 2 WestJonathan KirkBrian WarnerNjapaDeanM WilliamsCubinaAbernathySolymarYusefMoylettCampbellWest88 KeysM DeanOjivoltaDem Jointz a E Vax a Solymar b 4 5725 Ok Ok pt 2 WestLeeCharlesSamuelsLouis BellThorntonRylesC YoungYusefWalshWilderT SmithEastWestBoi 1daBell a 3 2526 Junya pt 2 WestJ CarterTyrone Griffin Jr PembertonM WilliamsCubinaBaileyWalshC YoungYusefThorntonTrotterMillsEastWestDigital NasOjivoltaBailey b 3 0327 Jesus Lord pt 2 WestAllahSean JacobsJason PhillipsDavid StylesK DeanLevyYusefM DeanHooverWestSwizz BeatzGesaffelstein a M Dean a 11 31Total length 108 49 Deluxe edition Disc 1 235 No TitleWriter s Producer s Length28 Life of the Party with Andre 3000 WestAndre BenjaminTerrence ThorntonYusufEastMillerGwinKhanVindverM WilliamsCubinaAbernathyDerek WatkinsNorma ToneyJack HansenBruce KirkmanPaul AnastasioWestAll DayBoogzDaBeast a The Twilite Tone a Vindver b Ojivolta b Dem Jointz b Fonzworth Bentley b 6 3129 Up from the Ashes WestNikisha GrierT ThorntonGene ThorntonEastMatthew LeonAlex ErneweinTimothy MosleyVindverAngel LopezWestSean LeonAlex ErneweinTimbaland a Vindver a Angel Lopez a 2 4230 Never Abandon Your Family WestBellYusefWalshDanielsM WilliamsCubinaEvan MastWestOjivoltaE VAX3 2731 Remote Control pt 2 WestJ WilliamsMescudiT GomringerK GomringerPembertonM WilliamsCubinaNjapaM DeanWaltonC YoungYusefWestCubeatzDigital NasOjivolta88 Keys a M Dean a Teddy Walton b 3 4132 Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2 WestMbogoWorthyPriceYusefParkerMuleDe BoniM WilliamsCubinaAbernathyGwinWoodleyNicholsWestFnZOjivoltaDem JointzBoogzDaBeastWoodleyNichols3 41Total length 130 52 a signifies a co producer b signifies an additional producer Notes 46 74 78 81 236 237 Jail features vocals from Jay Z God Breathed features vocals from Vory Off the Grid features vocals from Playboi Carti and Fivio Foreign Hurricane features vocals from the Weeknd and Lil Baby Praise God features vocals by Travis Scott and Baby Keem Jonah features vocals from Vory and Lil Durk Ok Ok features vocals from Lil Yachty and Rooga Junya features vocals from Playboi Carti Remote Control features vocals from Young Thug Moon features vocals from Don Toliver and Kid Cudi Donda features vocals from the WRLDFMS Tony Williams Keep My Spirit Alive features vocals from Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine Jesus Lord features vocals from Jay Electronica Tell the Vision features vocals from Pop Smoke Pure Souls features vocals from Roddy Ricch and Shenseea The version of Come to Life on the deluxe edition of the album features background vocals from Tyler the Creator No Child Left Behind features vocals from Vory Jail pt 2 features vocals from DaBaby and Marilyn Manson Ok Ok pt 2 features vocals from Shenseea and Rooga Junya pt 2 features vocals from Playboi Carti and Ty Dolla Sign Jesus Lord pt 2 features vocals from Jay Electronica and the Lox Remote Control pt 2 features vocals from Young Thug and Kid Cudi Keep My Spirit Alive pt 2 features vocals from KayCyy Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine Samples God Breathed contains a sample of Bell Head as performed by Liquid Liquid 238 Believe What I Say contains a sample of Doo Wop That Thing as written and performed by Lauryn Hill for her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 1998 239 Remote Control contains an extract from the 2012 animated short film Strawinsky and the Mysterious House 240 Heaven and Hell contains a sample of Heaven and Hell Is on Earth as performed by 20th Century Steel Band 63 Lord I Need You contains a sample of Make Me Over written by Anthony Charles Williams II as performed by Briana Babineaux 241 Life of the Party contains a sample of I Was the Life of the Party as performed by The Dramatics 242 243 uncredited excerpts from Cannibal Cutie as performed by Herb and the Spices uncredited vocal samples of adlibs from rappers Diddy and the late Notorious B I G and uncredited audio excerpts from a video recording of the late rapper DMX New Again contains a sample of As 1 written by Jacqueline Mapei Cummings Magnus Lidehall and Salem Al Fakir as performed by Mapei 244 Donda contains a sample of Candy written by Kate Bollinger and John Trainum as performed by Kate Bollinger 245 246 Personnel editMusicians Syleena Johnson additional vocals 1 Dem Jointz additional vocals 2 10 24 Sunday Service Choir additional vocals 2 5 11 15 18 54 20 27 Justin Austin additional vocals 3 KayCyy additional vocals 5 11 Donda West additional vocals 6 15 Fivio Foreign additional vocals 8 25 Buju Banton additional vocals 10 Stalone additional vocals 10 15 MUSYCA Children s Choir additional vocals 15 The World Famous Tony Williams additional vocals 15 Larry Hoover Jr additional vocals 17 27 Briana Babineaux additional vocals 20 Sam Barsh keyboards 5 John Mease keyboards 5 Daniel Seeff bass 5 Cory Henry organ 11 Brandee Younger harp 12 Darius Woodley drums 16 Rico Nichols drums 16 Mark Williams piano 22 Nikki Grier choir arrangement 2 5 11 18 20 24 Jason White choir arrangement 2 5 11 18 20 24 Technical Maurizio Irko Sera mix engineering master engineering all tracks Mike Dean mix engineering 1 7 9 11 16 18 20 21 23 24 26 Alejandro Rodriguez Dawson record engineering 1 9 11 18 20 22 24 27 Enzo Rarri record engineering 1 3 23 27 Will Chason record engineering 1 4 6 9 15 20 23 25 26 assistant record engineering 12 13 Ronald Lark III record engineering 2 Gimel Keaton record engineering 2 24 Josh Berg record engineering 2 27 Mikalai Skrobat record engineering 2 18 20 22 24 27 Roark Bailey record engineering 3 9 12 13 21 26 Dem Jointz record engineering 10 15 Drrique Rendeer record engineering 4 13 17 27 James Kelso record engineering 4 13 17 27 Jonathan Pfarr record engineering 12 15 20 24 Randy Urbanski record engineering 3 20 Lorenzo Wolff record engineering 4 Shin Kamiyama record engineering 5 Zack Djurich record engineering 5 Jesse Ray Ernster record engineering 5 Devon Wilson record engineering 5 6 10 mix assistance 6 Wilson Zaigo Mejia record engineering 7 Gentuar Memishi record engineering 8 Henry Russell Walter record engineering 14 22 vocal editing 9 26 vocal production 12 Preston Reid record engineering 10 Angad Bains record engineering 12 Federico Vindver record engineering 15 vocal production 15 Nagaris Johnson record engineering 15 Todd Bergman record engineering 15 20 Kalam Ali Muttalib record engineering 16 Sharif Shannon mix assistance 4 6 Rashade Benani Bevel record engineering 16 Jess Jackson record engineering 19 Scott McDowell record engineering 23 Rafael Fai Baautista record engineering 26 mix assistance 26 Louis Bell vocal editing 2 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 25 27 Patrick Hundley vocal editing 3 5 9 11 13 14 16 21 24 26 27 Stef Moro mix assistance 3 22 Charts editWeekly charts edit Chart performance for Donda Chart 2021 2022 Peakposition Australian Albums ARIA 247 1 Australian Urban Albums ARIA 248 1 Austrian Albums O3 Austria 223 1 Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 224 1 Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 225 1 Canadian Albums Billboard 249 1 Croatian International Albums HDU 250 20 Czech Albums CNS IFPI 226 1 Danish Albums Hitlisten 251 1 Dutch Albums Album Top 100 252 1 Finnish Albums Suomen virallinen lista 228 1 French Albums SNEP 253 1 German Albums Offizielle Top 100 231 4 Icelandic Albums Plotutioindi 229 1 Irish Albums OCC 254 1 Italian Albums FIMI 255 1 Japan Hot Albums Billboard Japan 256 21 Japanese Albums Oricon 257 38 Lithuanian Albums AGATA 258 1 New Zealand Albums RMNZ 259 1 Norwegian Albums VG lista 260 1 Polish Albums ZPAV 261 26 Portuguese Albums AFP 262 28 Scottish Albums OCC 263 23 Slovak Albums CNS IFPI 232 2 Spanish Albums PROMUSICAE 233 5 Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 264 1 Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 234 2 UK Albums OCC 265 1 UK R amp B Albums OCC 266 1 US Billboard 200 267 1 US Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard 268 1 Year end charts edit 2021 year end chart performance for Donda Chart 2021 Position Australian Albums ARIA 269 36 Austrian Albums O3 Austria 270 63 Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 271 58 Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 272 176 Canadian Albums Billboard 273 28 Danish Albums Hitlisten 274 14 Dutch Albums Album Top 100 275 46 French Albums SNEP 276 188 Irish Albums IRMA 277 46 New Zealand Albums RMNZ 278 28 Norwegian Albums VG lista 279 10 Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 280 34 UK Albums OCC 281 94 US Billboard 200 282 39 US Christian Albums Billboard 283 1 US Top Gospel Albums Billboard 284 1 US Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard 285 19 2022 year end chart performance for Donda Chart 2022 Position Australian Albums ARIA 286 94 Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 287 142 Danish Albums Hitlisten 288 82 New Zealand Albums RMNZ 289 41 US Billboard 200 290 43 US Christian Albums Billboard 291 1 US Top Gospel Albums Billboard 292 1 US Top R amp B Hip Hop Albums Billboard 293 33Certifications editCertifications and sales for Donda Region Certification Certified units sales Canada Music Canada 214 Platinum 80 000 Denmark IFPI Danmark 230 Platinum 20 000 France SNEP 294 Gold 50 000 Italy FIMI 295 Gold 25 000 New Zealand RMNZ 216 Platinum 15 000 Poland ZPAV 296 Platinum 20 000 United Kingdom BPI 297 Gold 100 000 United States RIAA 212 Platinum 1 000 000 Sales streaming figures based on certification alone See also edit2021 in hip hop music List of Billboard 200 number one albums of 2021References edit Kanye West Is Working on a New Album Titled God s Country GQ Australia May 25 2020 Archived from the original on June 29 2020 Retrieved June 29 2020 a b Blistein Jon July 21 2020 Kanye West Shares Release Date Track List for New Album Donda Rolling Stone Archived from the original on January 15 2021 Retrieved October 13 2021 a b Kanye West Donda released by Universal without my say artist claims BBC News August 30 2021 Archived from the original on August 30 2021 Retrieved October 25 2021 Fu Eddie July 22 2020 Kanye West Claims His New Album Donda With Child Is Dropping On Friday 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biggest Spotify debut of all time Revolt Archived from the original on September 2 2021 Retrieved September 3 2021 Aswad Jem August 30 2021 Kanye West Beats Olivia Rodrigo for 2021 s Most Streamed Album and Artist in 24 Hours on Spotify Variety Archived from the original on August 30 2021 Retrieved October 19 2021 Shanfeld Ethan August 31 2021 Kanye West s Donda Breaks Apple Music Records Hits No 1 in 152 Countries Variety Archived from the original on September 3 2021 Retrieved September 3 2021 Singleton Micah August 30 2021 Kanye West s Donda Sets Apple Music 2021 Record Billboard Archived from the original on September 3 2021 Retrieved September 5 2021 a b Blake Emily September 7 2021 Certified Lover Boy Out Streamed Donda in Just Three Days Rolling Stone Archived from the original on September 8 2021 Retrieved September 11 2021 Gallagher Alex September 6 2021 Drake beats his own Spotify record for single day album streams with Certified Lover Boy NME Archived from the original on 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Kanye West Discuss Drake 2009 VMAs and More in New Drink Champs Interview Complex Archived from the original on November 5 2021 Retrieved November 5 2021 Kanye West On Donda Drake Marriage W Kim Kardashian His Legendary Career amp More Drink Champs Revolt November 5 2021 Archived from the original on April 17 2022 Retrieved November 5 2021 via YouTube A Aron November 13 2021 Kanye West s Donda Deluxe Billboard Pops Up In L A HotNewHipHop Archived from the original on November 13 2021 Retrieved November 13 2021 Hudson Alex November 15 2021 Kanye West Releases Donda Deluxe with Andre 3000 Tyler the Creator Exclaim Archived from the original on November 15 2021 Retrieved November 16 2021 Kanye West Chart History Bubbling Under Hot 100 Billboard Archived from the original on November 23 2021 Retrieved January 14 2022 Kanye West Donda Deluxe CD 2 CD www target com Archived from the original on January 15 2022 Retrieved March 20 2022 Kanye West Donda 4LP Brooklyn Vegan Retrieved May 4 2022 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