Donda Donda Donda Donda *yawn*. I miss the old Kanye, straight from the go Kanye.
After achy anticipation, Kanye West finally dropped his eleventh studio album, Donda. Was it a masterpiece worthy of the elusive debut concerts and attention-grabbing theatrics? Not necessarily, but Donda delivered in traditional Kanye fashion. It felt like a mix of old and new Kanye. The rhythm and flow from songs like “New Again,” “Ok Ok pt 2,” and “Off the Grid,” were reminiscent of Graduation and Late Registration AKA “Prime Kanye”. Ever since he released Yeezus in 2013, Kanye has adamantly incorporated themes of God, faith, and Christianity in his music. These themes ground Donda as they are scattered throughout nearly all twenty-seven tracks. Kanye could have improved the album by synthesizing these themes into a handful of songs. Twenty-seven tracks are too many and it appears that Kanye lost focus. One of his greatest albums, Graduation has only thirteen songs. To make a great product, an artist needs to be good at trimming the fat, eliminating anything not related to the core message; Donda, however, was like a T-bone steak: you must cut through the fat to find the meat.
What is evident from Donda is that Kanye’s tracks are not structured around a chorus. In fact, there really isn’t much structure to any of his new songs. Each verse is like bend in a winding river, no clear direction in mind. Without a roadmap, Kanye has allowed himself the freedom to explore themes of faith, family, love, and duty all in the same songs. While I prefer the song structure he created in tracks from “Graduation,” “Late Registration,” and “808’s & Heartbreak,” the beauty of Kanye’s new music is its originality.
Kanye’s gift is his ability to combine unique beats with deeply personal lyrics. In Donda, he shares with his audience his relationship with God, his ex-wife, his children, friends, and mentors. As a result, we feel connected to his life. Truthful lyricism like this is rare, especially in the pantheon of modern hip hop.
My biggest critique of Donda is that Kanye didn’t include artist features with song titles. One of the reasons that music-lovers like myself were so excited about Donda was because of the many well-known artists he worked with to produce Donda: The Weeknd, Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Rihanna, Roddy Rich, Young Thug, even Baby Keem (I’ve never heard of him either), the list goes on. If you want to know who’s on what tracks, you’ll have to look it up on Google.
In summary, Donda was a hazy album. Some solid songs: “Hurricane” (feat. The Weeknd), “New Again,” and “Lord I Need You.” I give Donda a 7.1 out of 10. It’s certainly not a windows-down summer jam album, but it makes for chill background music.