Donda (album)

Donda (stylized in all caps) is the upcoming tenth studio album by American producer and rapper Kanye West, which had originally been scheduled for release on July 24, 2020,[1] but remained unreleased on that date.[2]

Donda
Studio album by
Kanye West
Recorded2018–present
Label
Producer
Kanye West chronology
Jesus Is Born
(2019)		 Donda
(TBA)
Singles from Donda
  1. "Wash Us in the Blood"
    Released: June 30, 2020
  2. "Nah Nah Nah"
    Released: October 16, 2020

Recording
Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, where West held recording sessions

In March 2020, West recorded new music in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico before returning to Wyoming with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] That same month, American rapper Pusha T stated in a Discord interview that he had been recording with West recently.[4] Pusha T was planning to meet with West on March 16, 2020, to finish up a project, but cited "flights slowing down" as the reason for a delay.[4]

Marketing and background

Cinematographer Arthur Jafa prematurely revealed the project during an Instagram Live stream on May 25, 2020, in talk with fashion designer Michèle Lamy. During the stream, Jafa indicated that he was working on video-related material with West for a single from a "forthcoming album" titled God's Country.[5] On June 26, 2020, following the announcement of a collaboration between West's fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap, West launched the #WESTDAYEVER promotional campaign on Twitter to announce different projects across June 26. One of the projects was revealed to be a music video for "Wash Us in the Blood", directed by Jafa.[6] The video was released four days later, following a teaser on Twitter in which West officially revealed the title of the album as God's Country.[7]

On July 13, West shared a snippet over Twitter of a song from the album, titled "Donda", which features a spoken word introduction from his late mother. The song was accompanied with a preview of the music video.

On July 18, West announced the title had been changed to Donda and that the album would be released on July 24,[1] but it was not released on that date. The album is named after West's late mother, Donda West, and shares its name with his former creative content company. On July 21, West stated that the album would be released alongside a movie. On July 25, West released a tweet that revealed the cover of the upcoming album.[8] On September 26, West released a 39-second snippet of a new track titled "Believe What I Say" to his Twitter account. The track has a similar sound to the previously released snippet of the title track to the album, sampling Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and is believed to be from Donda as well.

On October 16, 2020, West released a song titled "Nah Nah Nah", calling it his presidential campaign's theme song. He did not clarify whether the song was intended to be included on his upcoming album or not. On November 13, 2020, West released a remix of "Nah Nah Nah" featuring rappers DaBaby and 2 Chainz, with verses from all artists being censored (an uncensored version surfaced online unofficially the day before the official release). Both, the original song and its remix, feature various references to his presidential run.

On November 23, 2020, Consequence expressed enthusiasm towards the album, describing the album as "fire".[9]

References
  1. West, Kanye [@kanyewest] (July 18, 2020). "New album DONDA coming JULY 24 #2020VISION" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. Zidel, Alex (July 24, 2020). "Kanye West Doesn't Drop New Album Donda: With Child & No One Is Surprised". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. Christina Binkley (March 25, 2020). "The Creation and the Myth of Kanye West". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  4. Trace William Cowen (March 24, 2020). "Pusha-T Talks Working on 3 New Projects, Collabing With Madlib, and More in Discord AMA". Complex. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  5. GQ staff (May 25, 2020). "Kanye West Is Working On A New Album Titled 'God's Country'". GQ Australia. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  6. West, Kanye [@kanyewest] (June 26, 2020). "YZY GAP BEGINS MOWALOLA JOINS AS YZY GAP DESIGN DIRECTOR JD KSG CARTOON MURAKAMI CUDI JESUS IS KING FILM ON APPLE JAMES TURRELL YZY SPLY DOC NICK KNIGHT FOAM RUNNER RELEASE MADE IN USA JESUS IS KING DR. DRE VERSION WASH US IN THE BLOOD VIDEO ARTHUR JAFA #WESTDAYEVER" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020 – via Twitter.
  7. West, Kanye [@kanyewest] (June 29, 2020). "KANYE WEST ARTHUR JAFA PROJECT 02 WASH US IN THE BLOOD FROM THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM GOD'S COUNTRY TODAY STILL #WESTDAYEVER" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020 – via Twitter.
  8. "DONDA ALBM CVR" – via Twitter.
  9. Marie, Erika (November 23, 2020). "Consequence Calls Kanye West's "Donda" Album "Fire": "We're Gonna Score"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
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