Kanye West: Donda Controversy

Julissa Guevara-Lopez

Kanye West recently came out with a new album called Donda, and while it spent 18 months in the making, there has been controversy. Here is what you need to know.

 

Who is Kanye West? 

Kanye West is an American singer, rapper songwriter, producer, businessman, and fashion designer. Many of you may know of or may have heard of his clothing line, Yeezy Gap. Kanye was born June 8, 1977, and is 44 years old. He was born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago. He gained attention as a producer for Roc-A-Fella records in the early 2000s. He has an estimated net worth of 1 billion dollars. Kanye faced a divorce, mental health issues, and controversy when making his album. It was released August 29 2021. 

 

What is Donda about?

Donda is a 27-Track album. It was named after Kanye’s mother, Donda West. She was born July 12, 1949, and passed away November 10, 2007, due to heart failure. The album included Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Chris Brown, Pop Smoke, Roddy Ricch, Kid Cudi and Jay-Z as featured artists. Now is it true that his record released Donda without Kanye’s permission? Yes, they did in fact realize it without Kanye’s permission, and while doing so they blocked the song called “Jail pt2” from being on the album. The song featured DaBaby and Marilyn Manson. DaBaby has been involved in a line of homophobic comments and Marilyn Manson is currently facing lawsuits from multiple women alleging sexual assault. There was not an exact, specified reason why it was blocked off, but it was in fact deleted from the album.

 

Donda vs Certified Lover Boy

As many of you may know, Drake has recently released his new album, Certified Lover Boy. The official release date was September 3, 2021. Donda had only been released 5 days before Certified Lover Boy. Almost immediately, fans began to compare the two albums. Certified Lover Boy only has 21 songs while Donda has 27. Drama began to stir between the two. Kanye also tried to respond to a post Drake had made but deleted it. Kanye’s response consisted of a screenshot of text messages with someone who we assume is Drake. The text said, “You will never recover, I promise you.” Drake’s fans then proceeded to vandalize Kanye’s childhood home, which was the same home Kanye burned down theatrically on the soldier’s field.  

 

The Opinions

Many critics are overwhelmed with the album entirely. The controversy, the people involved, and the whole idea has made it hard for people to enjoy the songs as themselves. Meanwhile, Kanye’s fans were very excited about the album. A fan on Twitter showed their enthusiasm for the album by tweeting “I can’t eat, can’t sleep, I cannot even talk without every inch of my body metamorphosing into the spiritual awakening that is DONDA. I am lost for words. Kayne west is nothing short of a divine being. I have never felt closer to God before.” Many fans had the same opinion, but others expressed otherwise.

 

The Conclusion

Overall, Donda has faced many different opinions, reactions, and reviews. Kanye has also had a very rough journey while creating the album as said before, he faced a divorce, mental health related issues, and more. However, after all Kanye’s hard work his album became one of the most streamed albums on many different platforms.