DONDA
Donda is the tenth studio album by Kanye West. A legend in the rap game, Kanye has cemented his legacy through his unique sound and production in his projects ranging from classics such as The College Dropout to more experimental-sounding projects like 808s & Heartbreak. There doesn’t seem to be a barrier that Kanye can’t open the door to in the rap game. But with his recent lackluster projects and outside drama occurring in his life, it is fair to say that I wasn’t expecting much from his most recent release, however, after listening to the album in its entirety, I was pleasantly surprised.
Listening to Donda to me was like a like listening to a best hits of all the characteristics that Kanye has displayed in his previous projects. The sound of the guitar riffs and the distorted and preaching nature of Kanye’s voice in Jail was like a callback to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the heartbeat-like bassline in the song God Breathed was something similar that can be heard in Yeezus, and that’s just a couple of examples. As you listen through the project, you really get the intention that Kanye really put his heart and soul to make this as beautiful as an experience to listen to as possible. The production is some of the best that I have heard from a Kanye album since The Life of Pablo. The way he utilizes the organs, bass, synth, and choirs is all rich and pure. It really hits you to the point where you want to let a tear out because of what you are hearing. Songs like Moon and Come to Life are great examples of this where the combination of the instruments and the angelic lyrics of Don Toliver and Kid Cudi in Moon and Kanye West in Come to Life really make you emotional. I can’t remember the last album that made me feel like this, it was all just a surreal experience.
Speaking of features, Donda features a plethora of features and for the most part they are fantastic! Some of the highlights include The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Fivio Foreign, Jay Electronica, Jay-Z, Lauren Hill, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Roddy Riich, The Lox, among many others. They really add to the theme of the album and provide a lot of substance and memorable additions to an already solid project. Apart from the needless Pop Smoke feature in Tell the Vision, I can’t think of a bad guest feature in Donda, they all did their thing and killed it.
While Donda is not perfect in any stretch, it is in my opinion the best album that Kanye West has put out since The Life of Pablo and is in fact more enjoyable for me to listen to in some respects than the former. It doesn’t quite light a candle to his older projects like The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation perse, but it is leagues better than his more recent projects like Ye and Jesus is King. It is definitely worth putting around two hours of your free time to really dive deep and listen to everything it has to offer to you and your listening endeavors.