Released: 2021

Genres: Christian Hip-Hop, Gospel, Experimental Hip-Hop, Trap, Pop Rap

The Musiquarium’s Donda Review Score: 5/5

After 2019’s underwhelming (but over-hated) JESUS IS KING, which disappointed many fans for replacing/rewriting the beloved leaked version of Yandhi, as well as for its focus on religious themes and profanity-free bars, came a grand slam of an album, as opposed to JIK’s relative bunt. Following up a 27 minute long album with a hour-and-a-half-long album (2+ hours for the deluxe edition, which may as well be the definitive version, despite its inferior sequencing) seemed quite generous, but how much of it would be filler? Unsurprisingly, not much of it.

Donda (named after Kanye’s late mother — his guiding light) is an album full of spirituality and love, and although some songs may not fit the overall context/theme of the album, the album still mostly achieves its goal as an homage to his mother (including voice recordings of her) and I’m sure it would have made her proud as a mother.

This album is home to some of Kanye’s best songs, and despite the hate that the press gave the album (which seemed more targeted at Kanye West, his views and his collaborators, than the music itself), this album is actually another crown jewel in Kanye’s musical canon — in fact, one can argue that it’s his magnum opus.

Jail opens the album with a lonesome guitar riff, verses from Kanye and a post-retirement JAY-Z, and a tasteful In the Air Tonight-like drum fill, which only appears at the very end of the song. God Breathed sounds like the 808s & Heartbreak track Say You Will put through a Yeezus filter, with an extended droning outro. Off the Grid is a wildly successful take on the drill subgenre.

Praise God starts with a sample of Donda West talking, where she imposes the wisdom of “even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night”. Hurricane (a Yandhi era track) sees The Weeknd returning after a feature on the 2016 The Life of Pablo track FML, and is a track that should shut up those who claim that Kanye is past his prime. Believe What I Say samples Kanye’s hero, Lauryn Hill.

Come to Life is perhaps the most touching song in the entire Kanye oeuvre, with songs like Moon, No Child Left Behind and the gospel-led 24 all providing additional doses of emotion and faith. Jesus Lord is a soulful epic, which samples a recording of Larry Hoover Jr., pleading for his father (an ex Chicago crime boss) to be released from prison after decades of incarceration.

There’s also Ok Ok (a shot at derivative, new age rappers), the born again antics of New Again and tracks like, Pure Souls, Remote Control, Heaven and Hell, Lord I Need You and Keep My Spirit Alive… Donda is an absolute beast of an album with no shortage of gems.

The deluxe edition of the album includes the gorgeous JESUS IS KING holdover Up From the Ashes, as well as the André 3000 featuring Life of the Party, with one of the best verses about mothers, as well as a welcome return to rapping after years of radio silence — it is one of Kanye’s greatest songs ever and one that any detractor would struggle to dislike.

The biggest criticisms of Donda seem to be about the bloated tracklist and the addition of Pt. 2 versions of songs, but Kanye has always been good at maintaining a pulse throughout lengthy projects, like on The College Dropout, Late Registration and The Life of Pablo, and the alternate versions of these songs tend to feature different artists, so it’s somewhat understandable why they weren’t cut. The interlude-like Tell the Vision is extremely misplaced, but perhaps it was more of a tribute to the late (murdered) Pop Smoke than anything. No matter how you look at it though, there are still at least 25 enjoyable songs on this album, and for a project this long, it’s quite incredible that the album doesn’t really overstay its welcome. Had those aforementioned songs been removed, it could have ended up marginally better, but the inclusion of said songs can be seen as part of its charm, thus why I am not detracting points here.

Donda is sitting at a 53/100 on Metacritic, which is an absolute joke and is further proof that many modern music journalists have their judgements clouded when it comes to separating the art from the artist. If this is a 5/10, then music journalism is fucking dead.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Kanye West on Discogs.

Back to the 2021 Album Guide or the Kanye West Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard