This morning (August 29), Kanye West’s long-awaited album Donda was finally released on streaming services. Now, just hours after its release, West announced on social media that it was released without his consent. “Universal released my album without my consent and they prevented Jail 2 from being on the album,” he wrote in an Instagram post. Find this post below.
Universal officials did not comment on Variety, but the publication cited unnamed company sources who described West’s claim as “ridiculous.” Pitchfork reached out to Kanye West’s representatives at Universal for further comments.
Donda includes contributions from JAY-Z (on “Jail”), The Weeknd, Jay Electronica, Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Kid Cudi, and many others. The LP was released after the rapper’s third listening party – a Chicago event that featured controversial performances by Marilyn Manson and DaBaby.
Manson is credited as the composer and lyricist on “Jail,” while both Manson and DaBaby are credited with “Jail, Pt. 2. “This song wasn’t officially available when Donda’s first release, but it eventually found its way onto the album. Today West posted a couple of photos on Instagram (viewed by Pitchfork) showing threads of text claiming the DaBaby manager is not approving the Charlotte rapper’s verse for “Jail”. Arnold Taylor – the founder and president of the South Coast Music Group, the label DaBaby is under contract to – denied West’s claim.
In September 2020, West posted a series of tweets about his relationship with Universal Music Group. He addressed his desire to buy back his masters recordings from the company, claiming his efforts were being hampered by contracts he had signed. He then tweeted several pictures of his alleged contracts. Read more about the dispute in Pitchfork’s article “What Does Kanye West Really Win (Or Lose) When He Shares His Record Deals”.
This article was originally published on Aug 29 at 3:59 p.m. Eastern. It was last updated at 5:19 PM Eastern.
