DONDA pt 2
[For succinctness, Donda listening parties, aired for streaming on 07.22.21, 08.05.21, and 08.26.21, will be referred to as LP1, LP2, and LP3, respectively.]
On August 29, 2021 Kanye released Donda. Well, actually, he started releasing it over a month earlier. And in all probability, the album’s still not finished. He’s known for making both minor and major amendments to his albums even after they’re officially released. Sometimes the adjustment is just a mixing change on one song. Other times, it’s a whole new guest feature or a whole new song. Even since the 29th, Ye has removed bonus tracks, added bonus tracks, and probably made mild mixing adjustments that went unnoticed aside from random listeners all of a sudden thinking a certain beat sounds better than the first times they heard it.
Donda appears to be a mixed bag for many mainstream critics. Even Pitchfork, a publication that has mostly heralded Kanye’s music (including issuing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy an elusive 10.0 rating) was not feeling it.
I have to wonder though how much that has to do with the album rollout. Three VERY different LPs and performances preceded the actual album release. During the last of them, West decided to invite two highly detested musicians to join him on stage.
Those musicians: DaBaby and Marilyn Manson.
Baby condemned himself for making unapologetically homophobic remarks. Manson allegedly has a history of emotional abuse in his relationships, one of which was painfully corroborated by possible victim (Evan Rachel Wood).
(Watch her testimony and you’ll hate Manson, too.)
In almost every review I’ve read about the album, the writer has made the same two criticisms: Kanye’s affiliation with these people is abhorrent and thus the music he made is also bad, and the album is all over the place.
I will agree that DaBaby is an ass at minimum, and possibly a bad person. Manson seems like pure evil if the accusations against him are true.
But Kanye’s Christian, again. And he jumped back in with both feet.
We talked about this. And isn’t forgiveness one of the paramount tenants of Christianity? Isn’t it possible that THAT is the message he was trying to express? I’d say, “Most likely.” Not to mention that neither artist remains on the album. Both musicians were featured on “Jail pt 2” (effectively a remix) that is not available on streaming, so to say that their presence at one of the listening parties has any impact on the music found on the official release is, to me, both narrow-minded, and also a pretty obvious example of virtue signaling.
Personally, I loved the listening parties. LP1 was the first full-ish album my newborn daughter Nola ever heard. But even without my obvious bias, how can someone not be fascinated, amused, entertained, or… something’ed by Kanye’s album rollout? Donda LP1 was nice. It was relatively mild in Kanye terms, aside from the fact that he managed to sell out a 71,000 person stadium not for a concert, but so he could test out an unfinished version of an album. (For the record, I enjoyed the first LP, but I’d have been underwhelmed if that turned out to be the official version of the album.)
But Kanye’s subsequent displays are what make him so great.
Following LP1, entertainment news outlets reported that Kanye was living (yes, LIVING) indefinitely in a near-empty locker room inside of Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium (MBS) for a cool $1 million per day.
Observers began to notice that his behavior very much resembled the plot of Phantom of the Opera.
Struggling with love? Yep, divorcing Kim K.
Living inside a modern Opera house? Does a stadium-turned-record studio count?
Wearing a mask? Yes, albeit one that looked like pantyhose.
Disfigured? No, but Kanye’s public mental health issues can substitute.
Trying to win over his true love? Seems that way. Kim was present at each of the LPs and he even tested a song titled “Never Abandon Your Family.”
Ye rarely repeats himself and he’s never boring, and that rings true for LP2. His second listening brought his locker room living quarters to the center of the stadium. Clad in all black, he jumped around and did push ups while expo-ing an updated (and significantly better) version of Donda. To close the show, he ascended on a wire up to a brightly lit top of the stadium, into the sky and then presumably heaven. A stark contrast from a guy called who once called himself Yeezus.
Of course, always outdoing himself, Kanye went full-crazy for LP3, this time at Soldier Field.
There’s DaBaby and Marilyn Manson, but we already discussed that. Controversial, sure, but not nearly the most amazing part of the ordeal. In the center of the the football field, Kanye recreated he and his mother’s childhood house.
Much of the first half of the LP, Kanye spent his time on the replica’s front porch. Black SUVs enter the turf and begin circling his exhibition. Hundreds of dancers (also masked and dressed in all black) join him.
Eventually he burns down the house. Like, seriously. “Flames” and smoke begin pouring out of the windows. Kanye can be seen on the Jumbotron inside the structure, sitting on a lone chair, flames surrounding him.
And then what I interpreted as a rebirth akin to a phoenix, Kanye walks out of the house, literally on fire.
After being extinguished, West removes his mask for the first time. “No Child Left Behind” (Donda’s closing track) plays. A bride, later confirmed to be his Kim, walks on to the field towards her husband. They stand inches apart, face to face as the album ends.
Donda *is* all over the place. The critics weren’t wrong in making that observation. The mood changes several times and soundscape is sprawling. “Jail” kicks off the album with stadium-sized electric guitars. Drums are nowhere to be found, but the rhythm isn’t hard to find. The track is marked by a long-awaited verse from Jay-Z. His lyricism is as sharp as ever, and even cleverly throws in a Kanye/Trump jab. “… Hol’ up Donda, I’m with your baby when I touch back road. Told him, ‘Stop all of that red cap, we going home.’”
In a return to his more Hip-Hop-centric form, Donda moves into a slew of jams offering everything from tripped-out vocal, drill-inspired rhythm sections, moody organ-esque synths, trap drums and pounding sub bass.
It’s notable that in this section of the album, and even throughout, Kanye takes a backseat vocally. His features are given plenty of attention and the guest list is excellent. Along with Jay-Z, The Weekend, Lil Baby, Very, Playboi Carti, Fivio Foreign, Young Thug, Ariana Grande, Westside Gunn, Roddy Ricch, Kid Cudi, Jay Electronica and others all deliver breathtaking choruses, wordplay and background vocals.
Kanye is known bringing out the best in his featured artists. It’s arguably one of his greatest talents. But this is the first time where his music sounds more like a curation. Not like a DJ Khaled curated album where the latter just buys other producers’ beats and assembles whoever is in vogue at the moment. No, this is definitely still a Kanye album—his personality is all over it. But it’s different. Maybe downplaying himself as the centerpiece is his way of showing humility. He lets other mega stars have their moments while also encouraging up and coming talents to shine. Heck, he even used a sample of a piano piece by 6th grade Kaufman Music Center’s student Zen Micheline Hung. Her piano part can be find in the second half of “Come To Life.”
This happens to be my favorite song on the album. It’s Kanye at his best, and his most Kanye. Uplifting and penetrating vocals. Comical but profound metaphors. Larger than life production that’s so big it doesn’t even need drums.
The lack of drums on a number of tracks is a notable direction West has taken on his past few albums. He once said it had something to do with Chakras. Regardless, it creates a unique sound for Hip Hop by putting emphasis on other parts of the music.
As the album goes on, Kanye’s gospel influence takes on a larger role. But thankfully, THANKFULLY, his use of organs and choirs has been honed. Unlike the often silly Jesus Is King, Donda employs gospel in a way that is sometimes eerie, other times epic, occasionally mournful, and mostly full of soul.
The Weekend’ soaring vocals on “Hurricane” are taken to new heights by occasional stabs of the Sunday Service Choir. They also make fitting and wonderful appearances on “24,” “Heaven and Hell,” “Donda,” “Jesus Lord,” and “No Child Left Behind.”
While there are a few moments on the album that I don’t love, mostly because they seem out of place, I find myself loving nearly all of the 1 hour and 44 minutes of music.
Much like The Life of Pablo, which Kanye once said was a “gospel album with a lot of curse words,”
Donda tackles many themes. His love of God is, of course, a major part of his lyrics nowadays, but he finds way to tie that element into other themes, love, family, parenthood, his flawed character, and his ever-present struggle with fame.
Sure, it meanders some. “Moon” and “Donda” are solemn and spare, more so in contrast to the uptempo hip hop and thunderous choir that takes up much of the rest of the album. They almost seem like interludes, but they’re deserving to be on the album. Tracks like this are reflective, but they also seem like a regrouping. And they’re a reminder that no matter what else Kanye has on his mind, the memory of his mother is always lingering.
I don’t rate albums here, but if I did, I know that I’d be issuing Dondawith a strong positive score. Even omitting the theater preceding the album (since I knocked other writers for considering it too heavily), I think this record is an excellent showing from one of music’s most daring artists.
That doesn’t mean we should write off his outrageous listening parties, though. Kanye presented us with imagery and symbolism that, when looked at closely, provide a host of insight into the record’s themes. We can see, that while Ye is one-of-a-kind, has a mind solely his own, and lives a life
unlike anyone else, he’s actually pretty relatable.
P.S. Here are a few favorites from Donda:
“Come to Life”
“Off The Grid”
“Hurricane”
“Ok Ok”
“Moon”
“Keep My Spirit Alive”
