Kanye West’s Donda tops charts

On August 29, hit artist and producer Kanye West released his tenth studio album, “Donda.” It certainly stands out from the rest of his albums.

This album produced a lot of hype prior to its release and was delayed for release by roughly a month. Over this period, West provided concerts for fans to hear unfinished versions of the songs on “Donda.”

His performances packed stadiums in Atlanta and Chicago while putting on amazing visual performances alongside his music. Prior to the album’s release, Donda produced 12 million dollars, according to USA Magazine and Universal Music Group.

It came as a surprise to everyone when “Donda” dropped just a few days ago. Though it has received many mixed reviews, I believe that it is one of West’s best and most personal pieces.

Similar to his last album, West uses evangelical and gospel pop, but this time with a twist of inserting hip hop artists of all kinds.

On the album the listeners get a great mix of what would be considered early to mid 2000’s hip hop alongside modern day trap.

Some examples of the older styles of hip hop mixed with some gospel themes are songs on the album such as “Believe What I Say” and “Heaven and Hell.” These songs are extremely reminiscent of West’s work on past albums like “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”

The more modern, trap type music appeals to an entirely different crowd, but the production makes songs like “Off the Grid” and “Tell the Vision” amazing to listen to.

Another appeal of the album is the star-studded roster of features. These features, much like the music itself, give every type of hip hop fan something to listen to. We get appearance from artists such as The Weekend, Travis Scott, Roddy Rich, Lil Baby, Pop Smoke, DaBaby, Ariana Grande, and many other great musicians.

The opening song “Jail” caught the ear of every listener. The song featured Kanye West’s long time friend, Jay-Z. Many people compared this song to West and Jay-Z’s collab album “Watch the Throne,” which debuted in 2011.

Another feature that made the album worth while is that of the late Pop Smoke’s feature on “Tell the Vision.” Pop Smoke passed away February of 2020, and has since rose to extreme levels of popularity. His feature on this song, although short, was a great thing to see.

This might be Kanye West’s most personal album. The name of his late mother, Donda, inspired the name for the album and is discussed often throughout the album. He talks often of seeing his mother in the afterlife, and what she overall meant for him.

This album is a reflection of West’s thoughts on dealing with life without his mother, the one who brought him to heights only a handful of artists have ever been. It is also important to note that much of this album was written and produced after his extremely public divorce with his wife.

The converging of his many feelings can be heard throughout the album. This is a new chapter in his life, and with it comes an album that lets all of us know.

All in all, “Donda” is an amazingly produced, thought out and overall planned piece of art that stands for itself in Kanye West’s legendary discography.