Kyle Mccoy

A/E Editor 

kzm266@psu.edu

On Sunday, August 29th rapper Kanye West released his highly anticipated tenth album Donda. The release comes after months of speculation as well as numerous delays. Upon its release, the album immediately rose to the top of BIllboard’s Hot 200 albums chart selling 309,000 album-equivalent units.

The album itself was met with mixed reviews from critics and fans with many criticizing the album for its long run time and perceived lack of quality control.  The album also proved controversial for some fans due to the presence of DaBaby and Marilyn Manson on two of the album’s tracks. 

The controversy stems from the fact that  Manson is currently facing multiple charges of sexual assault while DaBaby made several homophobic comments over the summer that have led to him being dropped from many music festivals. This was not the only controversy related to this album as West claimed on Twitter that the album was released without his permission. Despite West’s objections, the album remains available for streaming and purchase as of September 6th, 2021. 

The road to Dondas release has been a long and complicated one The project initially started off as a sequel to West’s 2019 album Jesus is King with acclaimed producer Dr. Dre Tapped to co-produce the album with West. West even teased the album by posting a picture of himself and Dr. Dre in the studio together. However, these plans would never come to pass and this concept was scrapped in favor of what we now know as Donda.

 By March of 2020 West was already recording new material for the album that would become known as Donda. At this point in time, the Album was called Gods Country a title that was confirmed in an interview with cinematographer Arthur Jafa who had been working on some Music videos for the Album. 

In May of 2020, the song Wash us in the blood was released. The song was intended to be the lead single from Donda but in an ironic twist would end up not making the final tracklisting.In June of that same year, Kanye officially announced the album and by July of that year, the album’s title had been officially changed to Donda named after Kanye’s late mother Donda West.

 Around this time Kanye also revealed the album’s cover art which was a painting by artist Louise Bourgeois entitled Les têtes bleues et les femmes rouges in the end however this artwork would end up not being used. West continued to work on the album all throughout the year, occasionally dropping snippets as well as hinting that the album would be released in 2021. On July 19th,2021 it was announced that the album would be released on July 23rd with a listening event being held on the 22nd at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium the first of what would ultimately be three listening events of the album.

 At the listening event, Kanye played several of the album’s tracks for the audience while being surrounded by many famous artists such as Jay-Z and Travis Scott. Following the listening event, the album’s release would end up being delayed until August 6th with another listening event taking place on the 5th of that month. Around this time West took up residence inside of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium while continuing to work on the album. The second listening event played out exactly like the first with West playing tracks from the album to the audience while being surrounded by a group of artists. 

Following this event, the Albums release date was once again postponed this time until the 13th of August. However, the album failed to arrive on this date. On August 18th it was announced that a third listening event would take place on the 26th  at Soldier Field in Chicago with the album set to release on the 27th. At the event, Kanye once again played tracks from the album this time while parading around a replica of his childhood home that was built inside the stadium. West also lit himself on fire during the event as well as simulating a wedding ceremony with a woman pretending to be Kim Kardashian. Following the event, it was announced that the album had been delayed again this time until September 3rd, however, the album arrived unannounced on August 29th. The Album Currently remains available to stream and purchase right now for fans who wish to check it out.