Donda
| Kanye West
Donda
Donda is the tenth studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on August 29, 2021, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. West recorded much of the material at multiple locations in the summer of 2021, including Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming. Guest vocals from the Sunday Service Choir, Jay-Z, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, the Weeknd, Vory, DaBaby, and Marilyn Manson, among others, are featured. West and Ojivolta handled most of the production, with further conditions from the likes of BoogzDaBeast, Dem Jointz and Mike Dean. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Kanye West’s 10th album arrives barely finished and with a lot of baggage. Its 27 tracks include euphoric highs that lack connective tissue, a data dump of songs searching for a higher calling.
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Rolling Stone
West’s 10th album is an overlong mess, dotted with moments of sincerity and some spectacular music.
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Collegiate Times
“Donda” is one of the biggest releases of this year. It is choral, it is vulnerable, it is bold and it is the perfect representation of the artist: chaotic, subtly genius and impossible to ignore.
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NME
The rapper's 10th album follows an odyssey of delays and bizarre not-quite-release parties, the result merely punctuated with moments of brilliance.
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Vulture
Donda is decorated sparsely and neatly, like an art gallery, but it lacks a curator’s eye for an overarching theme, and that kind of record works only when the artist has an unimpeachable batting average. West’s is all over the place. Donda achieved and expected greatness. In her name, excellence was required. Here, we’re left with sporadic, troubled, combative brilliance instead. This doesn’t feel like it’s just a phase anymore.
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The Guardian
misfiring lyricism from a diminished figure.
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Variety
Kanye West's Album Is Overstuffed and Mesmerizing
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Medium
The album’s production and guest features are the saving grace for this album and easily saved it from being scored lower. Without them, I don’t think Donda would’ve been anywhere near as good. While Kanye does offer some emotional verses and clever bars, he doesn’t quite have the golden touch like he used to.
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Hypebeast
This is Kanye returning from the heavens, gracing listeners with many of the lessons he’s been dealt over the past several years, doing so with his characteristic ipseity that continues to evolve and adapt humanity’s artistic landscape.
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The Villanovan
This album was meant to honor West’s mother, and it most certainly accomplishes this goal.
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HipHopDX
The final result is a collection of songs with little binding energy other than a vague Gospel through line, which runs across the tracklist — chaotic like The Life Of Pablo but devoid of the magic.
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The Round Up
Overall, Kanye West’s Donda is a huge improvement from his last effort that takes the best qualities of Jesus Is King and his previous projects and create something sonically outstanding to his entire discography.
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Daily Titan
'Donda' lacks originality and leaves listeners underwhelmed.
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The Ringer
Donda is pretty good in places and frustrating in twice as many others, but those flashes of growth and tranquility are worth all the effort, all the teeth-gritting frustration.
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PopMatters
There’s a good album somewhere inside Donda. Similarly, there’s a good man and a great artist somewhere inside Kanye West. As he continues to find faith and sanity, maybe he’ll find a more suitable tribute for his mother and make a better entry into his legacy.
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Slate
Donda is the rapper’s best album in five years—which isn’t saying much.
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Loud and Quiet
this is the reality of late-stage Ye, where it is in his commercial and artistic interest never to release the album and instead live in the spectacle of expectation, to let the promises and tension build up, to let us dream, because the reality is far too unpalatable. The centre can no longer hold, and it was foolish to think it ever could.
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Passion of the Weiss
Kanye’s latest release doesn’t just take on the form of an album in our media ecology. It’s “everything you need,” an object ofculture, the spectacle of Kanye. It is an event we all take part in and help cultivate. Needless to say, everything that has thus far surrounded the drop is a testament to that sentiment. Donda has become a cultural fetish. And I would be lying if I said it wasn’t due in large part to Kanye’s ability to push the coordinates of possibility beyond what music is supposed to be.
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The Sagamore
Every album throughout West’s career has proven to be influential in some regard and Donda has kept that trend alive. West has shown his new style as an artist. Donda diverged away from some of the lower points in his recent career, tying his Christian values, unique sampling and intelligent use of features together to create a beautiful final product.
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The Post
‘Donda’ stands as an imperfect but strong album.
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GQ
“Glory, glory, glory,” a chorus of Auto-Tuned voices sings. I pity the fool that waits around for part 2.
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Firstpost
West is the living embodiment of brash, overambitious decisions and that comes through in some senses on Donda. It’s not that there are fully weak songs, it’s just that these 24 tracks don’ all work together necessarily.
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Slant Magazine
With Donda, Kanye West Has Crafted His Most Unforgiving Self-Portrait Yet.
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The Daily Evergreen
If an album is hyped to such a level as “Donda,” it should be a masterpiece that will stand the test of time. The disappointment is not enough to hinder the album of its moments, though. The album still supplies an ample amount of songs listeners can enjoy.
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Hot New HipHop
DONDA offers familiarity in response to the demands for the return of the “Old Kanye.” Unfortunately, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
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Ratings Game Music
I’m content with DONDA, and that is probably because I know Kanye is content with DONDA. Even though the album came out at a mysterous time, has some throwaways, and features a whopping 26 tracks, it gives off a glow that gives a new meaning to G.O.O.D. music. What the album also confirms is that whatever Kanye tweets, whoever he votes for, and whoever’s feathers he ruffles, at the end of the day, he’s too much of a lovable genius to be canceled.
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AV Club
Kanye West’s Donda is a bloated, incoherent mess.
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Sputnik Music
The good news is that Donda has those genuinely superb tracks. I don't want to understate how important that is in the wake of ye and especially Jesus is King. It's also worth noting that very little here sinks to deplorable depths. It makes for an interesting listen that is already proving to be divisive in all musical circles.
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Gigwise
I get the sense that no one has said 'no' to Kanye at any point in the production of DONDA, but it is the most ‘Kanye’ album of all time. Absurdly out of touch at times, with references to his presidential run, DONDA can also be shockingly relevant, highlighting the reality of American life. Although the album could do with going on some sort of crash diet, it's a strong and fascinating addition to the Kanye discography.
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The Narrative Matters
All in all, Donda felt like a personal album, one that let us in on Kanye’s life, his struggles, and his triumphs. It makes him all the more the human.
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Chicago Sun-Times
West wrangles a surprisingly cohesive collection, his best album since 2010′s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
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Clash Magazine
Amid its evangelical filler and overly long run-time you’re left with a decent album. But its lack of moral core means that many will rightly shun Kanye West’s message from the mount.
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Evening Standard
Kanye West may still be controversial - but DONDA proves his musical genius isn’t up for discussion.
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The Breeze
Kanye West's 'Donda' is 'beautifully chaotic'.
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Daily Bruin
But despite the record’s inconsistency in overall theme and extraordinarily long runtime, it is West’s curative altruism – allowing so many different voices and styles to embrace “Donda” – that might be the purest tribute of all to his late mother.
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The Campus
So do I recommend you give Donda a listen? Yes, but prepare for some skips. They’re typically inevitable for an album of this size, and I wish Kanye West had given us the gracious gift of a shorter one, but who are we to expect anything average from Ye. If you can manage to look past the odd samples and throwaway tracks this is a decent album from one of hip-hop’s greatest minds.
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The Rider Online
“Donda” isn’t a perfect album, but is very close to it in my opinion. For fans present for the album rollout, so many memories are tied to the album. It’s my favorite Kanye album to date, and an immersive experience for all. Kanye’s musical genius makes this an easy album for all to listen to.
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Atwood Magazine
‘Donda’ can be a challenging listen at 108 minutes in length, yet it is still full of evidence as to why Kanye West has remained one of rap’s most intriguing and enigmatic figures throughout the entire 21st Century thus far.
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The Paper Wolf
Its 27 tracks include euphoric highs that lack connective tissue, a data dump of songs searching for a higher calling,” I say that Donda is a beautiful continuation of the career of Kanye West and gives me hope that he will get through his challenges and come out a better artist and person.
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The Musical Hype
After a messy rollout, Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West delivers a big, flawed, but often enjoyable 10th studio album with Donda.
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Soul in Stereo
There’s enough here for Ye fans to a create a decent personal playlist but as a whole, Donda does way too much without doing nearly enough to serve as a powerful tribute to its namesake.
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Owl Radio
It’s an album that takes the audience on a journey of introspection and inspires them to live life on their terms. Also, Donda is a great listen for long time fans and a good introduction to first time album listeners, such as myself.
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DIY Magazine
Predictably bloated and unnecessarily uneven.
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Music Matters Media
Donda is a piece of art that truly, and rarely defines the artist. Ye defined this moment with his tragedy, and even though that seems bleak, we can’t help but assume, that his mother would be proud.
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The Q
DONDA is like every album Kanye has released since his mother’s death; it is full of imperfections and restless energy. Although it may not be Kanye’s magnum opus, it is the first step forward we have seen Kanye take in a long time. DONDA represents everything we want from an aging rap star, and I think it will age incredibly well when placed into the broader context of his career.
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The Royal Page
I believe that I came at this album from every way I see fit, which involves features, production, lyrics, and overall messaging. In each category I couldn’t find any examples of serious issues or downfalls. That being said, I’m still a huge Kanye fan.
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AllMusic
The first few times through, Donda feels haunted and incomplete, yet there's a spark deep inside the songs that suggests Kanye might merely be ahead of the curve. It wouldn't be the first time.
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The Gator
The songs standing on their own are well written. However, when all put together, it feels as if they were not well thought out, exacerbated by its chaotic production.
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The Blazer
The tracks, again, blend some classic Kanye with a heavily religious undertone, and provide a solid ending to the record.
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The Line of Best Fit
Kanye West’s attempted revival with Donda is an awe-inspiring overcooked horrorshow.
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Bloomberg
“Donda” represents a revival, in every sense of the word, for one of pop's most singular talents.
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Fantastic HipHop
At this point, Kanye has proved his doubters wrong once again, and between his incredible versatility and unmatched creativity, I’m sure he will continue to impress us for years to come.
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Our Culture
Donda just leaves you feeling bemused and exhausted, wondering not which potential version would have the greatest impact, but which would best emulate the thrill of its non-existence with the least collateral damage.
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Northern Transmissions
It’s overstuffed with songs that, while always sounding great, are long in the tooth Donda isn’t something that anyone will be able to fully understand with only a few listens but there is something to be said about a record that, even while you don’t fully grasp it, is intriguing enough to make you want to dig deeper on. This is exactly that record. A new offering from one of the most unique artists that exists in our world today.
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Northern Star
Overall, the album is great but still falls short of what West is truly capable of.
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