Three album listening events later, The much delayed and anticipated album Donda by Kanye is here. Donda has been technically out for the last month, in many different versions but didn't hit the streaming platforms as I am writing this yesterday morning. What do I think of the album? It's very long and a mess of an album, all over the place. It's the equivalent of when you don't have much food in your house, you're very hungry, and you mix different food groups on the plate. It tastes good and you'll regret it later when you make the trip to the restroom. I do enjoy this album.
Ye handle curating this album well. He knows how to people sound godly, focused, and give it their all when they come on. Yea this is his album, but I feel like he mainly was the background artist and the features are the main attractions. The thing is now, I am not sure if it has to do with age, Ye's antics in the last few years, or I'm just into gospel music. I can't be emotional invested in his music much anymore. His music is tied to his personal life and antics but I honestly don't even care anymore. Music is still good and that's what I mainly care for now.
I wished that version 2 of Donda was the official version to be quite honest, it's short and simple, a 27 track, which is also almost two hours is not needed in this day of age. There are theories out there this is an actual double-disc album where one side is different than the other. I hear it, first, half is more turned up and he's cursing more while the 2nd half is reflecting in the last two years with his spilt with Kim and being at peace with his Mother's passing all these years later. The lyrics of Ye's music in the last couple of albums have been bad, He could be him just writing his stuff now. We get moments where we get those cringe bars but we get moments where he goes in and sounds focused, not all over the place and preachy with Jesus.
Tracks that stand out to me the most are songs like "Off The Grid" and "24". "Off the Grid" with Carti and Fivo is a banger, hearing Ye and Carti on some New York drill is a trip but it just works. Fivo was in god mode when he popped up, the best I've heard from him so far in his career. I can see this track blowing up in sports highlights and commercials sooner than later. "24" V1 was almost 7 minutes of Ye repeating "We gonna be ok", final version clocks in around 3 minutes but it still hits me. I get an out-of-body experience when this song comes on and I feel all my problems go away. I have been dealing with shit last few months but this song was well needed right now. The way the choir comes in and Ye's voice on the track gets me into higher spirits and keeps moving forward, everything will be okay. Therapeutic.
"Believe What I Say" I have been waiting for this full song to drop since he teased last year, a great song. The way he uses the sample of Lauryn Hill is fantastic, Kanye has always had a great for production. It is crazier that he hardly uses samples on the entire album, just baffling is the transition from something he's known for to using live music or start beat from scratch. "Hurricane" with The Weeknd and Lil Baby, the history of this track is insane. I think this is the fifth version I've heard and a couple of them I prefer but the final version is solid.
"Jesus Lord pt.2" I enjoyed this one more than the original version, I think the LOX verses are what makes the track in my opinion. Kanye sounded good on this, I love how the choir comes in and says "JESUS" every couple of bars, the production is simple and it works. "Keep My Spirit Alive" has Griselda's own Westside Gunn and Conway, both did great on here. Conway has started become the 2nd best of the label so far, he raps about him getting shot and how god and his mother's prayers worked, the line relating to the bible quote was dope. Westside, I was surprised he sounded good on this, wished he rapped on different beats more often.
"Pure Souls" and "Jonah" gave me the same vibes of happiness and joy when these tracks play, Roddy and Vory are both good melodic singers and are perfect for this style of tracks on Donda. "Junya" sounds like a leftover from "Whole Lotta Red" but in a good way, Carti and Kanye got good chemistry, hope they have more tracks in the works. "No Child Left Behind" ends the album strong, this going to be played in a lot of commercials (it has) and movies trailers now more than ever. I think the tracks I wasn't feeling was songs like "Jail" and Jail pt.2", Kanye did fine on the tracks but the features with Jay and DaBaby...They were okay but I wasn't into them as much as other people were.
"God Breathed" production carried this track, everything else about just stunk. "Moon" "Praise God" and "Remote Control" I wasn't in love with these songs but I thought were okay cause who was featured, Kanye was background noise. "Heaven and Hell", I couldn't get into and it's my least favorite track here. I liked version two of this track, the beat was lowkey and Kanye sounded good on here but in the final version the new beat just doesn't hit as much and Kanye just spitting some shit I rolled my eyes at. A major complaint I had with this album as many others did was this album was a complete sausagefest. Don't get me wrong the choir is here but would've been nice to hear more ladies on these hooks.
Overall Donda has glaring issues and the runtime is ridiculous but the album is still solid for what it's worth and the time we had to wait for this. If Jesus is King and Pablo had a baby, this would be the kid. If you cut the fat off this album I think I would've loved it more and could be a solid contender for album of the year, but where I stand I'm more in the talking stage of Donda. It was worth all the wait, I know I'll be ready for another Ye rollout.
Favorite Tracks: 24, Off The Grid, Junya, Hurricane, Believe What I Say, Keep My Spirit Alive, Jesus Lord pt.2, Pure Souls, Jonah, No Child Left Behind, Ok Ok
My least Favorite Tracks: Heaven and Hell, Tell The Vision
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