Kanye West is postponing the release of his long-awaited new album Donda to August 6, a representative from West told Pitchfork. Media personality Justin Laboy and West collaborator Malik Yusef reported on the August release date last week; TMZ had also previously reported a release date of August 6th. Donda was due out on Friday July 23rd via GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings.
Kanye West premiered Donda on July 22nd during a listening session at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The event was also streamed on Apple Music and, according to TMZ, it broke the Apple Music Global livestream record with 3.3 million viewers tune in.
The album, which West played in Atlanta, included his reunion with JAY-Z as well as contributions from Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, Pusha T, Baby Keem, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and others. This included “No Child Left Behind,” which starred Sha’Carri Richardson in a new Beats ad. The Donda event also reportedly prompted the city of Atlanta to declare July 22nd as Kanye West Day.
Donda will follow Kanye West’s 2019 solo album Jesus Is King. On Christmas Day that year, West’s Sunday Service Choir released Jesus Is Born, an album of gospel music that West executive produced. His previous solo album, Ye, was released in 2018 and was followed by Kids See Ghosts, a collaboration with Kid Cudi. In the same year West was known to produce records by Teyana Taylor (KTSE), Nas (Nasir) and Pusha T (Daytona) as an executive producer.
In the months between the release of Kids See Ghosts and Jesus Is King, West teased and eventually announced the release of an album called Yandhi. The first release date was confirmed as September 29th, but the album never materialized. Yandhi then faced further shifts and setbacks. West eventually took to Twitter to say, “I realize the new album I’m working on isn’t finished yet. I will announce the release date as soon as it is ready. Thank you for your understanding.”
While West’s album was on the shelf, the rapper ventured into the world of opera and debuted in 2019 with two pieces – Nebuchadnezzar and Mary. He also toured the country with his Sunday Service Choir, performed at Coachella and at numerous venues across the United States.
Kanye West kicked off 2020 with its Yeezy Season 8 fashion show. Later in June, he released the single “Wash Us in the Blood” with Travis Scott and teased another album called God’s Country. West seemed to be giving up God’s Country and instead said that he would release a record called Donda: With Child (or Donda) a year ago. No album was released. Amid the promise of music (and the actual release of the songs “Nah Nah Nah” and “Nah Nah Nah (Remix)”), West launched his long-promised and ultimately unfortunate presidential campaign.
Last February, it was reported that Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West, who she married in May 2014. (Kardashian was present at the Donda premiere in Atlanta.) The following month, West won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Jesus Is King. More recently, West appeared on the posthumous pop smoke record Faith. The track with West is called “Tell the Vision,” and one of West’s Donda tracklists in particular contained a song of the same name.
