Kanye West is one of the most enigmatic artists of our time. From recording a Gospel album to his sneaker brand and his controversial political opinions, he’s everywhere. An artist with several critically acclaimed multiplatinum albums and collaborations with The Weeknd and Jay-Z, where does Donda lie in all this?
The name says it all. Donda is a tribute (of sorts) to his late mother. The album premiered on July 22nd in the Mercedes-Benz Arena. While listening events are not new to Kanye, this felt more substantial and personal. Setting himself on fire and recreating his marriage (amongst other things), he certainly didn’t hold back on the spectacle. Spread over two months, three different listening events and featuring different versions of the final songs, Donda was finally released on 29th August.
Kanye West is one of the only artists right now who can command so much attention based on just a few rumours and leaks. Highlights include Jail, Off The Grid and Hurricane, which hit the spots Kanye excels in – a solid beat, excellent collaborations with air-tight verses and brilliant overall lyricism. A personal favourite is this bit off “Come To Life”, where he sings “Mad when she home, sad when she gone”. The focus is more on the collaborators here, more so than his previous albums, and it mostly pays off. Jay Electronica, Roddy Rich, Jay-Z and The Weeknd provide excellent features, and Gesaffelstein’ work towards the end of the album offers a welcome change of pace.
Like most albums released in recent times, being optimised for streaming platforms, it’s front-heavy; most of the immediate highlights lie toward the beginning. The second half of the album chooses to veer off and experiment. With minimalist beats, choir vocals and organs (!), it’s definitely a lot to sit through. This is probably the main downside to the album – while ‘Ye’ was too short at 24 minutes, Donda is too long at 109 minutes. While the album is stellar at its peak, it’s almost abysmal at its low points – like Come to Life and Jonah. These songs, which compose a lot of the album, lack the bite and spark that made him so influential. Self-depreciation and dark humour are replaced with a solemnity usually not observed in his work. While one can’t obviously expect the same from an artist over two decades, this seems like a sidestep more than an evolution.
Donda is a haphazard collection of songs about his family, his divorce and his beliefs. Like most of Kanye’s recent work, it’s grandiose in its ideals but seems to falter in its execution. The album throws everything at the wall, but a good chunk of it doesn’t stick. Edit this album down to one overarching theme (or even half its original runtime), and you get a career highlight. But as it stands, the inconsistency is too much to ignore. Kanye West still has it in him, no doubt about that. Kids See Ghosts, Wash Us In The Blood, and his work with Playboi Carti on Whole Lotta Red prove that he’s still a top-tier artist. But will he ever top his work pre-The Life of Pablo? That’s yet to be seen.
Written by : Pratham Shenoy
Image Credits : Pratham Shenoy
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