KANYE WEST’S ‘Donda’ Album Review
It’s 7 a.m. (CDT) on Sunday, August 29th as I wake from my sleep. I make my usual stroll to the bathroom to start my morning routine, hop on Twitter and the first thing I see is that Kanye West’s long awaited album Donda was just released. I click the link and it takes me to the album directly on Apple Music. The first thing I’m shocked by is that the cover art is not the one I had thought it was planned to be but is now just a solid black background. For most of the day before I scavenged youtube and the internet in general searching for leaks of the album and cleaned up versions from the live events. I couldn’t handle waiting anymore and being a kid of the internet I decided to go and try to put together and guess the tracklist of the album before the release. The second thing I noticed is that the Donda Chant made the album and is the intro, I click play. I scroll down and look at the whole tracklist and realize I found all of the songs on youtube yesterday in unfinished versions but more than just the cleaned up versions from the live events. The tracklist is in a completely different order than the one I had put together as expected. Jail comes on and the beginning sonically hits very direct and unexpectedly coming from the Donda Chant, its much crisper than I was expecting from watching the live events. I start to get excited and quickly ditch my whole morning routine, grab my Beats Headphones and crawl back into bed while my girlfriend is still sleeping. At some point she woke up and I told her the album dropped and she could tell I was excited and she called me a dork which made me smile. We went out to the living room and I switched to a Bluetooth Speaker to listen to it instead because I always prefer listening to music without headphones if possible. I listened to it once all the way through which took almost two hours with it being a 26 song album. Throughout the day I spent it listening to the album, I relistened to every song multiple times and I feel like I already have a pretty good feel for the album and which songs and parts of the album I like a lot and which I don’t care for. At some point during the day while scrolling I came across Kanye posting on instagram that DaBaby and his manager weren’t clearing the song and that they weren’t responding either. Later in the day Kanye also accused Universal of putting out his album without his permission. The all black album cover starts to make sense, the obvious unfinished mixing on Tell The Vision and the questionably unfinished mixing of other parts of the album too. I start to wonder when songs will start to update and when it will start to feel like how The Life of Pablo felt when it was released with songs being updated after release.
Instead of going on to talk about every song in extended paragraphs in the next section I’ll be putting the songs in order of how much I enjoy them, I try to look at music unbiased but critically. I also know art is subjective, its all opinion, taste and based from your point of view so saying something is better or worse is never right or wrong really. So instead of saying this is the best song I will be rating them by my how much I enjoy them with some reason why. For my own reviews in the past I have also not counted skits and bonus tracks when figuring out the average rating and I will be doing the same for this one.
DONDA SONG RATINGS
- Come to Life 10/10
The performance of Come to Life to finish the Donda Event in Chicago made this song feel extra special. Kanye putting his heart on display for the world to see and then coming outside the house while set on fire to the piano at the end of this song is another level or artistry. - Jail 10/10
Some songs take me more than a few listens to know how much I really enjoy them or how it’s going to sit with me over time but since I heard Jail at the first Donda Event in Atlanta I knew I loved this song. When I first started listening I wasn’t sure if Jay-Z or DaBaby or both would be on it but I knew regardless it was going to be one of my favorite songs on the album. I do wish the original Jail had the elements of Jail Pt. 2 also with DaBaby’s verse and Marilyn Mansons hints of vocals but regardless its a 10/10 Kanye song for me. - 24 10/10
Real emotion, hopeful messaging, a blaring church organ and heavy bass, a pure beauty. I also wonder if the song being named 24 is in memory of the late great Kobe Bryant. - Moon 9/10
I was going to have a conniption if Cudi didn’t make the album and after not hearing him on Remote Control my first listen I almost did. Until the next song Moon came on and there he was right after the hook with a perfect introspective verse for the album. I’m happy we got Kanye back at the end to harmonize a little too but wish we would have gotten a full verse, no doubt still a soft jam though. - New Again 9/10
If you’ve ever regretted something or felt shame in life the hook on this song is something that can really connect and hit deep. The choir throughout the album shows out more than we got on Jesus is King and really shines throughout the entire album. - Praise God 9/10
Just like Off The Grid another hard song. Travis Scott and Baby Keem go off and the only thing I’m left wishing for is a Kanye verse which we don’t get. The song is made for me alone from Ye on the hooks and the Sample of Donda saying “into the night” at the end of the hooks is the HARDEST part on the album for me. - Jesus Lord 9/10
This song is amazing. - Off The Grid 9/10
BEAT HARD. BARS HARD. GOING TO WAR MUSIC. - Keep My Spirit Alive 8/10
Minnesota’s own KayCyy is on the album with a smooth hook and this one feels different. I feel selfishly proud of the MN right, I’m sadly late to listening to KayCyy but I’ll be keeping up to date now. - Remote Control 8/10
After listening to the album all the way through the first time it was Kanye doing the extended Control-oooOoooOooOoooOooo that was stuck in my head and that I was humming out loud when I took a break after listening to it the first time. After hearing Cudi on the song during one of the live events I did definitely wish he was going to be on this one though. Still a catchy ear worm song, the meme at the end kind of kills me but I scratch it off to him doing it for his kids to hear. - God Breathed 8/10
This song gives me heavy 808s & Heartbreak meets Yeezus fully. The verses with just only the 808 for the production and the end being extended with just the 808s reminds me of Love Lockdown and then when the hook comes in and the way the chorus sings and beat has a dark churchy tone give off the Yeezus vibes. Strong energy on this one and would probably be one of the best performed live. - Pure Souls 8/10
Roddy Rich came through with the good energy and we get a rare full Ye verse on the song. I love the outro when Shenseea comes in also. - Hurricane 8/10
Above average Kanye verse on the album and Lil Baby being on it now is a good highlight. Personally The Weeknd on it isn’t my favorite but I do love the choir singing behind his parts. - Jonah 8/10
If I’m being 100% honest I love every part of this song other than the Kanye Verse and its hard saying that being a Kanye fan. Still a great song though. - Ok Ok 8/10
Yachty, Fivio and Rooga’s verses all go hard. I think the beat could have used a change with an element of hi hats to make it feel more aggressive but I still liked the song a lot. - Donda 8/10
I love the emotion of this song, I love Donda West talking on it, I love how the hook comes in so strong. - Believe What I Say 7/10
I slept on this song the first couple listens and really only appreciated the hook and sample but after listening more Kanye’s verse on this song may actually be the most fun one on the album. - Heaven and Hell 7/10
I love all of it but the ratata bladada raps aren’t for me, I wasn’t a fan of it on Feel the Love either but I did think it fit that song better. - No Child Left Behind 7/10
Kanye got Lil Baby, DaBaby and Baby Keem on the album and really said no child left behind. - Lord I Need You 6/10
I love the hooks on this song but the verses don’t really do it for me sonically, I feel it though with where he is in life. - Junya 5/10
Not a huge fan of this song but now I know who Junya Wantanabe is, my favorite part is the Giannis line.
Tracks not included are Donda Chant, Tell The Vision, Jail pt 2, Ok Ok pt 2, Junya pt 2 and Jesus Lord pt 2. At first I was planning to have Tell The Vision as part of the rankings but have decided to consider it as an interlude because of it seeming to be unfinished and Kanye not appearing on it at all. I hope that the song will still be updated but until then I’m just happy Kanye paid tribute to Pop Smoke. I loved the energy of it during the live events but sadly in album mode is an automatic skip.
After deciding my song ratings I found the average from all of them and that equaled out to 8.14. I take into account my song ratings average, my personal appreciation of the song, the way the artist sways the culture at the time, my perspective on how it purely sonically sounds, the artistic element of it and if it stands out from the crowd, the songwriting and talent it took to make each song.
With all of that taken into account my final rating for Kanye West’s album ‘Donda’ is going to be a 8.5. Overall Kanye has made another great album that is going to stand up great next to all of his other legendary albums. I really enjoyed the extended rollout with him doing the live events, him not speaking one word and everyone else speaking for him. Love or hate the idea but Kanye bringing DaBaby and Marilyn Manson on stage with him was a very strong image as well. I believe he’s trying to represent Jesus and say everyone deserves a chance to make up for their past and be forgiven. A battle he constantly talks about, wanting to be good but fighting devilish thoughts and decisions. A very introspective album, great production, great features that shine even more if not equally to him, an unexpected magical release.
Thank you Ye.
