In the following days, West continued to post track listings, only to subsequently delete them.
West announced a release date of Jand posted a track listing for the album. On July 21, 2020, West confirmed the album title had been changed to Donda in honor of his mother, who he had also named his creative company after. The song was replaced with another track also titled "Donda" on the final track listing. On July 13, 2020, Kanye shared a snippet on Twitter of a song titled "Donda", which featured his late mother Donda West reciting KRS-One's " Sound of da Police" (1993) and was accompanied by archival footage, including the Wests rapping together. The track was set to be included on Donda, but did not appear on the final track listing. One of the projects was a music video for the track " Wash Us in the Blood" that features fellow rapper Travis Scott, directed by Jafa the video was released on June 30, following a teaser in which West officially announced the album's title as God's Country. On June 26, 2020, West unveiled a collaboration between his fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap alongside the launch of the #WestDayEver promotional campaign on Twitter, which accompanied announcements of different projects that same day. In October 2021, the Donda Stem Player was issued, allowing users to remix the songs and adding new ones, while a deluxe edition was released on November 14.ĭuring a conversation with French fashion designer Michèle Lamy in an Instagram Live stream on May 25, 2020, American cinematographer Arthur Jafa revealed that he was working on video material with West for a single from his forthcoming album, titled God's Country. As a result of their separate allegations of homophobia and sexual abuse, the appearances from DaBaby and Marilyn Manson created controversy amongst audiences. The album has been certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), alongside being awarded the certification in both Canada and New Zealand by Music Canada (MC) and Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ), respectively. It reached the summit in 18 other regions, including Australia, France, and the United Kingdom, becoming West's first number-one album in the second country. It stood as West's 10th consecutive chart-topper on the US Billboard 200, tying the record set by Eminem. Donda is a nominee for both Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, while " Jail" and "Hurricane" have been nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance, respectively.ĭonda initially scored the most first-day streams for an album in 2021 on both Apple Music and Spotify. Some noted an improvement from West's previous work and praised the composition, though numerous reviewers criticized the long runtime. The album received mixed reviews from music critics, who were mostly divided towards the cohesiveness. " Hurricane" was released as the lead single in September 2021, and was followed by both " Believe What I Say" and " Off the Grid" in November. Upon Donda 's release, Kanye West accused Universal Music Group of having released the album without his approval, which the label denied. Themes explored include religion, Kanye's divorce from Kim Kardashian, and Donda West, whose forename is used for the title. It is both minimalist and maximalist, with a reduced presence of drums and darker lyrical content in comparison to West's prior efforts. The album is primarily a hip hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop record that features elements of numerous genres, including trap and drill. The third and final listening event was conducted at Soldier Field in Chicago on August 26, 2021.
Donda 's first public listening event was held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on July 19, 2021, followed by a second event there on August 5 that set a record for the biggest Apple Music livestream ever. The album was initially set for release in July 2020 under the title of God's Country, but experienced multiple delays. West, BoogzDaBeast, Dem Jointz, Mike Dean, and Ojivolta primarily helmed its production. Guest vocals from the Sunday Service Choir, Jay-Z, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Vory, DaBaby, and Marilyn Manson, among others, are featured, and vocals from Chris Brown were included prior to the album being updated. West recorded much of the material at multiple locations in the summer of 2021, including Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming. It was released on August 29, 2021, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Donda is the tenth studio album by American rapper Kanye West.