He really made us wait for this one. 402 days after it was originally supposed to, Donda finally dropped. Named after his late mother, Kanye West’s 10th studio album may be his most ambitious yet. With 23 tracks, plus four bonus remixes, and a run-time of nearly two hours, Donda is reminiscent of The Life of Pablo in its chaotic brilliance. While Kanye doesn’t quite reach the heights of his 2016 masterpiece, the consistency in quality for such a lengthy record is extremely impressive.
Kanye’s discography essentially tells the story of his life and Donda is no different. The album focuses on his recent divorce with Kim Kardashian, his devotion to God and the significance of his mother’s memory in helping him become a better father. The production is somewhat minimalistic, with a lack of layered instrumentals placing more emphasis on lyricism. Regardless, there is still a grandiose feeling to the project which is almost operatic.
Kanye brings his entourage along for the ride with a total of 30 different artists featuring. Unfortunately, these include DaBaby, who recently caused controversy with homophobic comments, and Marilyn Manson, who is facing numerous sexual assault allegations. The pair appear on bonus track ‘Jail pt 2’, showing that Kanye still has a desire to be provocative and problematic.
The original version of ‘Jail’, however, is much more of a fan favourite, opening the record with the “return of The Throne” as Jay-Z and Kanye collaborate for the first time in 5 years over a rock-inspired electric guitar riff.
The styles and sound of the project vary throughout, with the next track ‘God Breathed’ bringing back the dark, synthesized tone associated with 2013’s Yeezus. This quickly switches to a trap beat on ‘Off the Grid’ which includes an excellent verse from Fivio Foreign and some of Kanye’s best rapping on the album.
For those who miss the old Kanye, ‘Believe What I Say’ is certainly a highlight. A sample of Ms. Lauryn Hill’s ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ is used perfectly over an up-tempo beat as Kanye touches on the reasons for his divorce. “Don’t let the lifestyle drag you down” is repeated on the chorus as Kanye appears happy to have escaped the celebrity lifestyle in L.A., which he feels contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.
However, there is no shortage of melancholy on the album with Vory’s chorus on ‘Jonah’ representing Kanye’s loneliness without Kim: “Like who’s here when I need a shoulder to lean on? / I hope you’re here when I need the demons to be gone / And it’s not fair that I had to fight ‘em all on my own”. This motif continues on the eerie yet beautiful track, ‘Moon’, where Kanye teams up with Kid Cudi and Don Toliver. The trio express their desire to “go to the moon”, which can be seen as a metaphor for finding a place of peace and comfort.
The centrepiece of the project, ‘Jesus Lord’ is one of Kanye’s most emotional and powerful songs of all time. A simple beat remains constant throughout the song, allowing the listener to absorb Kanye’s words as he pours his heart out. He begins his verse talking about his struggles with mental health issues: “You been down so much you don’t even know what’s upstairs / Suicidal thoughts got you wonderin’ what’s up there”. The topic then switches to tell the story of a child being murdered and the knock-on impacts this has on their family and community.
On this record, Kanye repeatedly talks about wanting to use his influence and religion to help people, hence the repeated line in the chorus: “Tell me if you know someone that needs (Jesus, Lord)”. After an impressive verse from Jay Electronica, the track concludes with a monologue from Larry Hoover Jr., who thanks Kanye for his work to try to free his father from prison. The nine-minute song is not only a raw declaration of Kanye’s deteriorating mental state, but also a pledge to help others who need “salvation”.
The album narrative reaches a close with ‘Come to Life’, perhaps the most musically imposing track. Church organs play alongside piano and guitar riffs as Kanye contemplates the cyclical nature of life and how his sadness keeps setting in whenever he thinks he has everything together. However, he holds out hope that his dreams may come to life and states he’ll keep “floating on a silver lining”. This is followed by the outro, ‘No Child Left Behind’, as the thunderous organs come back in and Kanye repeats “He’s done miracles on me”. Much like the conclusion to Jesus is King, we leave Kanye in a place that is by no means perfect but one where he feels at peace due to his faith in God.
Donda is not only a touching tribute to Donda West, who’s passing sent her son into a downward spiral that he has never fully recovered from, it is also an outstanding work of art. A couple of tracks certainly could have been cut for a more refined end-product, but the vast majority of the project works exceptionally well. Kanye West is a polarising figure, to say the least, and his erratic nature is once again reflected perfectly, but somewhat tragically, in his music.
Rating: 4/5
