Kanye West has finally released his new studio album, Donda. The record came long after the rapper’s third listening party ended, an event in Chicago that included controversial appearances by Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, who were also rapping on a track that previously had a guest verse by Jay-Z. The song is called “Jail” and the album version contains the original JAY-Z verse and not DaBaby’s. West recently posted a couple of photos on Instagram showing a text thread revealing that DaBaby’s manager will not be deleting his verses for “Jail”. Spotify’s Donda stream lists a song called “Jail pt 2” that is currently unavailable. The song was briefly available on YouTube and featured a guest verse from DaBaby.
The official credits for “Jail” list Brian Warner (Marilyn Manson) as one of the composers and lyricists. The late album track “New Again” credits Chris Brown as a co-composer and co-lyricist. Other guests on Donda include The Weeknd, Jay Electronica, The Lox, Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke, Pusha T, Travis Scott, Lil Baby and Kid Cudi. Below, listen to Kanye West’s new album Donda.
West first announced Donda last summer after previously announcing that it would release a new album called God’s Country. He released “Wash Us in the Blood” with Travis Scott and shared different versions of tracklists for the album before teasing another new song called “Believe What I Say”. On July 20, 2021, a few days before the album was due out for the first time, West Donda’s “No Child Left Behind” teased track star Sha’Carri Richardson in a Beats commercial. He also sold the Donda Stem Player in connection with the album’s release.
West was supposed to release Donda after the first audio event on July 22nd, but postponed the release and announced a new release date for August 6th through a representative just days later. (The album didn’t come out on August 6, of course.) Between the July 22nd and August 5th events, West appeared to be settling down at the Atlanta Stadium to finish work on the album. He also streamed some of the progress made prior to the album’s release.
The album appears amid major changes in the rapper’s personal life. Recently he officially requested that his name be changed to one word: Ye. The name change petition came months after news that he and Kim Kardashian West were divorcing. Kardashian West appeared in the crowd with her kids at both Donda events in Atlanta. At the event in Chicago, she and West recreated their wedding.
Kanye West’s last studio album was the 2019 Grammy-winning gospel album Jesus Is King.
