Donda finally released after building anticipation and controversy

The 27-song album boasts big name features, but doesn't leave a strong impression

9/2/21 by Sam Lillianthal

Photo provided by Rap-Up

Everything about “Donda” preceding the album’s release was enigmatic, exciting and hopeful.

Everyone was talking about how this project would be another amazing Kanye West album that would restore him to his former glory. More and more big names were revealed to be on the album as time went on, like Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti and others. After multiple delays and three listening events, including one at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois with a replica of his childhood home, the album arrived on Sunday, Aug. 29. Now that it’s finally out, it is time to discuss if this giant, 27-song album is worth the hype.

A main highlight of the album is the features. Kanye works with new artists for the first time like Don Toliver and Lil Baby, but also his usual go-to artists such as Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla $ign. “Off the Grid,” a track with a wild drill beat, features an amazing verse from Fivio Foreign and a small piece from Playboi Carti. Don Toliver’s unique voice pulls on the heartstrings in “Moon.” The song has a serene backdrop with soulful guitars while Kid Cudi sings inspirational lyrics. “Jail” is a return of the iconic pairing of Jay-Z and Kanye. Jay-Z rapping

“This might be the return of The Throne” is a fantastic moment after so many years of issues between the two.

“Donda” is almost two hours long, with so many songs that there are bound to be bad ones. For West, though, there are not many bad songs but there is a lot of mediocre material.

“Jonah” features an emotional Lil Durk verse but the beat is not memorable at all and the chorus is overproduced. “Junya” has a fun concept but becomes repetitive to the point of annoyance because of West’s ad-libs. “Tell The Vision” is an alternate version of the same song on Pop Smoke’s posthumous album “Faith.” This version, though, lacks all of the punch and the sound quality of Pop Smoke’s voice is like that of a voicemail. “Praise God” carries a gospel trap vibe and Travis Scott’s flow works amazingly well on the beat. It has all the elements of a marvelous song until Baby Keem’s verse ruins it with absolutely terrible auto-tune. More average songs include “Remote Control,” “New Again” and “Keep My Spirit Alive.”

It is disappointing because Kanye West usually has no fat on any of his albums, but there is an abundance on “Donda.”

After listening to the entire album twice, I found only a handful of great and memorable songs. One of those is “Hurricane,” which is a beautiful track featuring The Weeknd on the hook. Lil Baby and Kanye’s verses do not disappoint either. The organ during the verses gives the song a lot of power and excitement. The song “24” is a tribute to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, with pretty and heartfelt singing by the Sunday Service Choir. “God Breathed” shows off great, minimalist production with ominous chanting, creating an atmosphere which makes the song and is a highlight on the album.

The controversy stemming from the release of “Donda” involves the final four songs, because they are alternate versions of earlier songs on the album. After the album came out, Kanye claimed Universal Music Group, the parent company to the Def Jam Recordings label, released “Donda” without his approval. He further claimed that “Jail pt 2” was blocked from release by Universal Music Group, but it possibly had to do with DaBaby’s verse not being legally cleared yet for the song. Currently, all songs are available to play on streaming services. The final four songs themselves though seem like an unnecessary leg to end the album, adding nothing to the overall vision. “Jail pt 2” shows DaBaby fighting back against being dropped from music festivals after his controversial homophobic comments at Rolling Loud Miami with petty lyrics like, “And that food that y’all took off my table / You know that feed my daughters, huh?” DaBaby paints himself as a victim in the situation for no good reason in the worst verse on the album. Further, putting Marilyn Manson, a man currently facing several sexual assault accusations, on the album was a very questionable choice too. The rest of these songs, such as “Junya pt 2” and “Jesus Lord pt 2” either shorten verses, add verses or replace features with new people. All these songs do is extend an already too-long record with little substance.

Kanye West will always be an enigma. Seeing the rollout of “Donda” will definitely go down as another iconic moment in his long and storied career. The album itself unfortunately does not resonate much, except for several excellent songs. There still are no bad Kanye albums, but “Donda” may be his biggest offense yet due to the sheer amount of mediocrity on it. West’s messages of positivity and perseverance are a refreshing change of pace, but something is still lacking. Whereas “JESUS IS KING” was too short, “Donda” is too long and only worth the listen if you are an avid Kanye West fan.

Rating: 2.25/5