Review: Kanye West – Donda

The long-awaited Kanye album is here with the usual delays and hyped turnout. This tenth studio album named after his mother Donda had music listeners waiting for this project for a multitude of reasons from Kanye’s divorce from Kim Kardashian to the tweet about Donda a year ago accompanied by the old, more colorful cover art. After listening to three listening parties, I already understand the general vibe of the album. Even if the release is controversial and that Kanye may still make changes, Donda still feels like a robust set of completed and extensive tracks. The 24 tracks with the additional 3 bonus “part 2” songs culminate into an hour and 49 minutes of Ye. The record starts with a robotic chant of Donda’s name for just under a minute representing her dying heartbeat, which is immediately followed by the soon-to-be iconic guitars of Jail. I predict this song to be the most iconic and having the most longevity out of any track on Donda. The main guitar riff is phenomenally creative and impeccably crafted. With the legendary inclusion of Jay-Z, Jail feels like one of many of Kanye’s masterpieces that required hundreds of hours to create. Rest of track-by-track analysis:

God Breathed – A track that can get a bit annoying over time, especially if you listened to the listening parties. Nevertheless, the track is an earworm with a very assertive rap delivery accompanied by Vory’s singing.

Off The Grid – The first Playboi Carti feature song, Off The Grid sees Kanye talking about his controversial antics, public reaction, and his relationship with God as if they’re related. The production is of a unique trap banger with a hard-hitting beat that I can imagine Pop Smoke on. Fivioforeign held his ground, too.

Hurricane – One of many scrapped songs from unreleased album Yandhi, Kanye replaces the singing vocals with The Weeknd that will definitely please his audience. Kanye also executes one of my favorite verses he has rapped with his usual braggadociousness.

Praise God – Hands down one of the best trap bangers Kanye has ever crafted, starting with an amazingly squeaky Travis verse (an artist that I’m not usually that fond of). Bringing Baby Keem onto this track was also a genius idea, contributing a phenomenal verse of creative autotune use, squeaky complementing, and a subtle critique on passive Christians.

Jonah – An interesting track with Lil Durk and Vory, but both felt underwhelming and a waste of a really great beat. It is a great example of a possible flaw with employing so many features for an album. Everything is distracting from Kanye’s down-to-earth verse.

Ok Ok – A miss for me. Lil Yachty’s verse was decent.

Junya – A collaboration I did not expect to like as much as I do. The track centers around underrated Japanese streetwear and fashion designer Junya Watanabe with the second, fitting feature from Playboi Carti. This is probably the most playtime I’ve heard from a Carti feature as they are usually pretty short. Even more, Carti goes out of his way to build a back-and-forth verse with Kanye, showing unanticipated chemistry that I loved.

Believe What I Say – One of the more groovy tracks on the album, Believe What I Say sees Lauryn Hill and Buju Banton contribute very fitting vocals. I love the wispy, ghosty sound effects backed by a loud bass.

24 – This is an introspective track about Kanye’s overturning into a better self, employing the Sunday Service Choir with a super memorable chorus. The organs hit extremely hard, and the distinct atmosphere created by the song reminds me of all the religious representations in Kanye’s listening parties.

Remote Control – A weird critique or more of a showcase of telling us how futuristic our world has actually become. I am not a fan of the main hook; it gets annoying fast and Young Thug’s verse is mediocre. Obviously, the outro samples one of the dumbest audios ever used in music.

Moon – Kid Cudi hops onto yet another legendary collaboration with smooth vocals and an ironically euphoric track. However, it's kind of short and is definitely still one of the less meritorious songs from this duo.

Heaven and Hell – I really missed and needed this amazing solo performance by Kanye, pulling at his heartstrings with one of his most passionate verses ever. The track also includes an amazing beat drop followed by immersive, heavenly production.

Donda – A spoken word song featuring a truly inspiring and genuine commentary on Kanye by his mother. Her line about human lineage and one’s origins really resonated with me.

Keep My Spirit Alive – KayCyy introduces this heavenly track with nice, soft vocals that creates a nice contrast to Westside Gunn’s verse filled with personality. A few Bible references and clear worship lyrics fill this song. Another great example of Kanye’s ingenuity as a music director.

Jesus Lord – This is probably what Jesus is King should have been. The chorus is still too preachy for me and it is nine minutes and I am already tired of it from the listening parties. At least Kanye has more presence and Jay Electronica has a great performance.

New Again – The electronic synthesizer-esque short, vacuum sounds are amazing, and its incorporation into the beat is so flawless.

Tell The Vision – The well-known disappointing Pop Smoke feature as an interlude. Kanye will likely update this track.

Lord I Need You – Some introspective rapping and genuine singing make me feel as if he is talking to Kim Kardashian in reflection.

Pure Souls – Roddy Ricch starts the song with some singing, working with great chemistry trading vocals with Kanye. The chorus is very catchy and there is a lot of Kanye presence with a nice Shenseea outro.

Come to Life & No Child Left Behind – Two long outro songs of the album to end in a heavenly fashion.

Although the album may feel bloated, Donda serves as another milestone in Kanye’s discography that shows his unwavering musical and directional ability. He will continue to never be afraid to work with any artist (even though his Marilyn Manson and Dababy features are extremely questionable in both reason and timing), and it is extremely cutting edge to work with artists that others would never even think of or be willing to work with. The crazy combinations of “lowbrow” artists from Playboi Carti, Fivio Foreign, Lil Durk, and Lil Baby to modern legends like Kid Cudi and Jay-Z are suddenly seamless under Kanye’s oversight. At the same time, Kanye can maintain 5-minute songs of cinematic immersion without losing the listener’s attention. Lastly, the objectively well-placed and well-crafted drums are subtly impeccable and, of course, the heavenly production. This album will age well, especially if redux versions release.

Score: 8.7

Favorite Tracks: Jail, Off The Grid, Praise God, Junya, Heaven and Hell

Least Favorite: Remote Control