by Camillo Illanes ’22

Kanye West released his much anticipated 10th studio album dedicated to his late mother, “Donda,”on August 29. The album came with an extensive amount of controversy, as Kanye’s third listening party promoted DaBaby who recently made derogatory statements towards the LGBTQ community, as well as Maryln Manson who is currently facing multiple lawsuits for sexual assault. Furthermore the album’s drop was delayed several times as it was originally set to be released on August 8. Nonetheless, Kanye eventually released his album to his anxiously awaiting audience. 

The surprisingly lengthy 27-song album begins with a “Donda Chant” interlude. The chant repeats Donda’s name 58 times, the age of her death. As the chant increases and decreases in tempo, it gives listeners goosebumps, as they listen to the rhythm of Donda’s heartbeat right before she dies. 

The album then gets going with the song “Jail.” A catchy sunburnt guitar beat, paired with some clever verses by Kanye, make this song a great addition to the album. In addition, Jay-Z shows that he still has great rapping skills even at 51 years old, and catches listeners by surprise going after Kanye telling him to stop, “all of that red cap.” 

“Off The Grid” utilizes a futuristic beat and style. The way that the song progresses thrills listeners and compels them to sing along. Additionally, the track has excellent features from Fabio Foreign and Playboi Carti. In this track Kanye sings about his divorce with Kim Kardashian and disses her several times, which makes the song a fun listen. “Heaven and Hell” uses a similar linear progression to “Off The Grid” with the instrumental ending off with impressive distorted and buzzing synthesizers. The song also highlights completely unhinged ad libs, similar to the ones that Kanye used in his album “Kids See Ghosts.” 

“Hurricane” completely contrasts the grill beats used in the first couple songs of the album with a slower and more pop-like beat. The combination of The Weekend’s flawless vocals, and Lil Baby’s poetic bars make this song one of the best on the project. The song will stick in listeners’ heads for hours. 

“Believe What I Say” is warm, luscious and fun. The song is upbeat and will put smiles on listeners’ faces. It also is one of the album’s only strong female presences, with a great Lauren Hill feature. However, it unfortunately does not blend well with the rest of the album’s poignant and serious theme. 

“Come to Life” utilizes fast repulsive piano layers, as Kanye shows off his ability to cohesively rap and sing perfectly on tempo and onbeat. The track truly launches upwards and makes listeners want to get up and dance. The lyrics on this song are also compelling and strong as Kanye raps about how God saved him from his struggles with drugs.“Jesus Lord” utilizes the same distorted piano beat that is common throughout the entire album. In the song, Kanye portrays great storytelling as he raps about his loneliness from losing his friends and mother, as well as the power that having faith in God gives him. These lyrics are impactful towards listeners, and focus on Kanye’s main message in the album: God being there to save him through tough times.
Throughout the 1 hour and 48 minute album Kanye seemed to lack the knowledge to edit out some of the inconsistent and indulgent parts. For instance, on the song “God breathed,” there is an extended outro that lasts for two and a half minutes, with underwhelming and uninteresting instrumentals. Furthermore, while most of the features on this album are outstanding, Baby Keem’s feature on “Praise God” is dull and lacks meaningful lyrics. Lastly, the track “Tell the Vision” is simply the same song from Pop Smoke’s album, except with peculiar swear word edits that make the song impossible to enjoy. 

Many people are going as far to say that the album is bloated and a complete mess. However, these people are being over critical as the entire project as a whole is an excellent listen, and some of Kanye’s best work in a long time. It is impressive how Kanye was able to put aside his divorce, mental health struggles, and drama with Drake to focus on making a cohesive and well put together album, with only a few flaws. 

Grade: B+