DONDA
Kanye West
2021
With an all star cast of rappers who have committed their own sins, the artistic mogul decides to repent his wrongdoings in a circular fashion, while also grieving the death of his late mother— which in itself changed his career trajectory and persona forever.
Gospel Rap/Drill/Political Rap
BY HARPSICHORD
MARCH 14, 2024
At this stage of his career, Kanye West had become a walking paradox that might have even thrown off his own fans. Oddly enough the DONDA era could be defined by three defining aspects: the full embrace of Christianity, a public divorce, and an on-going Drake beef. In 2018, Kanye West— who had once been a radical figure for Black liberation— alienated fans and even more people in the world when he endorsed Donald Trump during his presidency by wearing a Make America Great Again hat. This came after he met with the then President Elect at Trump Towers in December 2016. By that point, Kanye West had said a lot of alienating things that even seemed a bit outlandish for his most loyal supporters.
In the midst of all of that, he confirmed his bipolar disorder on 2018’s Ye – an album that seemed to have dropped during a manic artistic period. Then he got his name legally changed by an LA judge to simply “Ye” a month after his tenth studio album, DONDA , dropped.
In between Ye and DONDA came Jesus Is King , an album that affirmed a transition into being a gospel artist and a Christian hip hop mogul. Despite being known as a vulgar individual, Ye decided not to go explicit in his material– and as a result he started charting on Billboard’s gospel and Christian music charts– ultimately winning awards for the magazine’s ceremony.
DONDA oddly worked as the marriage of Ye and Jesus Is King , with the overarching presence of Yeezus . What made this era peculiar is the fact that through all the backlash, Kanye West- a prolific figure known for being outspoken whenever he dealt with something– became radio silent. He crept back into the days of the Yeezus era by sporting masks when out in public. This happened for the course of a year, until he decided to finalize the completion of DONDA at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
DONDA itself is a long winded project consisting of 27 tracks with a runtime 12 minutes shy of two hours. The album starts with Syleena Johnson of “All Falls Down” fame repeating his late mother’s name on “Donda Chant.” It sounds a bit ominous and disturbing to the degree of ritualistic behavior— but in no way indicates the overall tone of the album.
That leads into the arena rock guitars of “Jail” which became a meme worthy saying on social media. “Guess who’s going to jail tonight,” mocks Kanye and a choir about cancel culture and judgment. These two tracks revive what people once thought was unalived: the moral grounding of his mother, but also a “return of The Throne” with JAY-Z, which people thought could never be possible after Ye called out his “big brother” during a 2016 tour rant.
Throughout DONDA , there are many mentions about God such as the track “God Breathed” where Kanye frantically claims “I know God breathed on this.” It ties into the hurried minimalism that possessed Yeezus , with someone in the background shouting in a distorted manner. On “24,” he proclaims, “we gonna be ok,” to which his Sunday Service Choir of Jesus Is King responds “God got this!” While, “Praise God” samples audio of a speech Donda West made a few weeks before her death. He revisits that speech on the titular track, where he calls for “glory! glory!” At the end of the song he edits the frequency of the speech, where it makes his mother boast, “and why Kanye ain’t scared,” rather than its initial contextual intention of her asking a question during an anecdote.
“Off The Grid” recalls the 2015 period where Kanye sought after British influences of grime hip hop to give gems such as “All Day.” “We off the grid, grid, grid,” he repeats in a staticky microphone before finishing the rhyme scheme of “this for my kid, kid, kid.” Fivio Foreign is utilized vitally to represent how drill music had become the center of 2021 mainstream hip hop— particularly that coming from New York City. A verse from Pop Smoke— who died in a robbery shooting in 2020– is given a ghostly effect on “Tell The Vision.”
As the central pop hit from the DONDA era, “Hurricane” boasted a stellar performance from The Weeknd— nodding into the days of 2016’s The Life of Pablo and the album’s overall theme of repentance. Kanye delves further by saying “mmm mmm mmm, I was out for self,” almost as if he regretted the egotistical choices he made during eras such as Yeezus — a church organ backing up the testimony.
“Jonah” proves that DONDA was not only the place for Kanye West to get off his grievances while grappling with Christianity, but also a space of those emerging to dominate mainstream hip hop at the time. Lil Durk acknowledges “Kanye and Jay still brothers, they both billionaires,” over the thumping of ‘808s & Heartbreak’ drums during “Jonah.” Lil Yachty avidly describes the consequences of domestic violence (“having my hands round her neck”) and mourns Juice WRLD; while barely known Chicago native, Rooga, mentions “it’s been plenty of times you closed the door on me” during “Ok Ok.”
Over a thudding, Travis Scott-assisted trap beat of “Praise God,” Baby Keem enacts the flow of his cousin, Kendrick Lamar, as he speeds along “Y’all treat your Lord and Savior like renters insurance.” Noticeably, his swearing is edited out the verse— much like that of other featured rappers— making sure that it stays in line with the newfound holiness Ye expresses throughout. Westside Gunn talks about drug pedaling, and nearly escaping the FEDs, ultimately thanking God for that on “Keep My Spirit Alive.”
However, DONDA often contradicts itself. At one point there are the elements of Christian music as evident by the blaring organs and hand claps on “Junya.” Then there is the element of drill and its corresponding artists and idioms of the often-labeled violent genre taking up space. On “Heaven and Hell,” instead of saying “let it out,” Kanye repeats “let it grrat, grrat, grrat, grrat,” as a signal of praising like an AK-47 used on the streets of Chiraq, Chicago gang wars. At certain times, Kanye comes across as a preacher, and at others, he is deliberately informing audiences not to “Believe What I Say” over the interpolating of Lauryn Hill’s anthem about watching out for deception in the Black society and romance.
By “Remote Control” and “Moon” there is an immersion of 808s with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . “Remote Control” stands out for its whistling moment and aerodynamic sonics— once again praising God, but in light of a CEO. Young Thug agrees with him during the singing-only moment. But if one were not careful while listening, they might assume that Kanye is in fact talking about himself throughout the track— since at one point he did declare himself as the spitting image of Jesus during his two decade strong career. Meanwhile, “Moon” cycles back into what’s present on the soft lullaby nature of “Hurricane,” with Kid Cudi filling in the role of The Weeknd.
Travis Scott
Lil Yachty
Three years later, these artists appear on this list of top 24 New Gen Rappers that influenced 2k23 Pop Culture. Click cover to read more.
Lil Durk
What’s striking about DONDA is how it consists of some of Kanye’s best lyrical storytelling in recent releases. “Jesus Lord” works on the melodic production spirit of “Hurricane” (a song that at this point of the review should be regarded as the album’s backbone). He gives a verse that mirrors what 2Pac did on “Brenda’s Got A Baby” in 1991. He takes a page from his own days from 2005’s Late Registration á la “Roses.” It signals that the rapper is really trying to change his ways- and that although his behavior seemed detrimental in the eyes of many rebounding off the Trump days, he’s more than aware of what’s still affecting the Black communities he once spoke out for. There is a voicemail from the son of Larry Hover, where he indicates the Trump endorsement was all a ploy: “I wanna thank you for taking the fight for my father to the Oval Office.”
The final portion of DONDA speaks to what is truly breaking down Kanye. “Lord I Need You” seeks guidance in the midst of his divorce proceedings with Kim Kardashian. “All she wants is Nikes,” (when Kanye had an Adidas partnership), and the shouting of “I’m free” on “Come To Life” is more insight on that fairytale coming to a crashing end. And oddly he wants to “square up then” against “these boys [who] keep playin’” — more than likely Drake on “Pure Souls.” Even on that song “n!ggas” gets edited out, showing that through his quest, he indeed can still slip up and be taken by the presence of the Devil.
“New Again” blends house music techniques by distorting and stifling a central organ, as his choir calls out “make me new again!” Kanye even mentions his mask— signaling wanting to be baptized past the holy sins he’s committed. Maybe the mask is in fact worn as a means to face the world head on, without the shame of exposing a bare face.
The first song that promoted the new direction of DONDA would be “No Child Left Behind,” which was featured in a Beats By Dre commercial. The song premiered during the NBA Finals in June 2021, with Sha’Carri Richardson as the star. The controversial track star who was disqualified from the 2020 Olympics for smoking weed before a drug test, made for the perfect focal point— as she often found herself in trouble for speaking her mind during inopportune times.
“No Child Left Behind” is an oft-criticism of George W. Bush’s educational policy. In a full circle moment, Kanye’s titling of the track after the infamous act, recalls how him speaking out about the president— during a 2005 Hurricane Katrina telethon— became the first instance where he did something against what society at large found acceptable. It’s what gave Kanye West the household name of being more than just the producer who raps great hits. It inserted him as a cultural figure of importance in the mainstream consciousness. “He’s done miracles on me,” repeats Kanye about the presence of God in his life.
Read More Kanye
Related Tangents
DONDA , although never ending in runtime, serves its purpose to the fullest. Its circular nature, which is conflicted by its innate repetitiveness, helps the artist tie into his themes without him having to say much. The samples, the Christian allusions within the song titles, and the cast of characters who give their personal testimonies is what sells the product. That last portion is a reminder that no album came as close to doing that in Kanye West’s world as much as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . Except this fantasy go round will ultimately be regarded as one of the best Christian rap albums of all time for how it makes secular topics just as meaningful in the realms of religion.
“Off The Grid” for being an exhilarating anthem that recalls one of Kanye’s past highlights, and the standout performance from Fivio Foreign.
“Hurricane” for being the backbone of DONDA and centralizing a key aerodynamic aspect of Kanye West’s production.
“Remote Control” for embracing the spirit of ‘808s & Heartbreak’ and being a solid Easter Egg for Kanye fans.
“Jesus Lord” for its sonic flare and the calling out of the choir, as well Jay Electronica’s effortless political rap flow.
“Pure Souls” for Shenseea’s breakout moment at the end, as well as Roddy Ricch’s honest account of how media perceived him.
Key Tracks
DONDA is an ambitious project from start to finish, and at the time of its release, it had been maligned by the drama concerning his beef with Drake. Drake ultimately overshadowed the release of DONDA because his album Certified Lover Boy did better first week numbers.
However, Kanye’s project remained true to the overall essence of his artistry. That being said, DONDA does feel unnecessarily long (even retrospectively listening to it three years later)— and maybe that was because Kanye knew he was in competition with Drake, and needed more tracks to push high numbers in the streaming age.
Even with the album being long and repetitive on the same topics, the production is just what makes Kanye, Ye, Yeezus, or whatever you want to label him. The reason why this album gets a B is because on the scale of his artistry, he simply has had better. And as time passes from the date of this publishing, there will be more reviewed projects that will get a B+, some will get an A-, while others will deserve an A+.