Kanye West album: Everything we know about ‘DONDA’

Kanye West's DONDA is everywhere but on digital streaming platforms and fans are up in arms. Here's what we know.

By / / International
Kanye West album donda

The world has been halted in its orbit, yet again, because Kanye West is back in the music fold with a brand new album titled after his later mother Donda.

On Thursday, the Chicago rap-fashion impresario had the world tuned into a livestream of his second unveiling of the much-anticipated album, a spectacle that took place at the Mercedes Benz arena in Atlanta, US.

Fully masked in his signature balaclava, and dripped to the nines in what’s believed to be his Yeezy-Gap two-piece puffer sweatsuit that’s expected to drop in October 2021 as part of his first product range with the giant retailer, it’s fair to say that Mr West put on quite the show.

However, quite interestingly, the songs he played were only snippets of the album, and not the entire, fully mastered project, according to fans who’d tuned into the listening session.

The event was even attended by his soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Kardashian, their children and the reality TV ‘klan’.

Kanye West album: When exactly is DONDA dropping?

While millions of fans around the globe were tuned into the listening session to hear of a release date announcement, many were left shattered since this was not the eventuality.

In true Ye fashion, the 44-year-old left the listening session without muttering so much as a single phonetic sound. All he did was move around the stage with his two left feet to the chimes of his unfinished songs.

At this juncture, there seems to be miscommunication between Mr West and his record label, Def Jam Recordings, on when DONDA is expected to drop.

From the label’s perspective, West’s 10th studio album was expected to hit digital streaming platforms this week. However, we are edging towards the end of this period and still, there is no sight of the album.

Despite the disappointment this may have brought to his fans, don’t expect Ye to not stick true to his word. The Chi-town rapper is renowned for making a spectacle out of his releases.

Jay-Z makes an 11th hour appearance on Kanye album

The release date, and perhaps the full length of the album, are the only missing pieces to the ever-elusive DONDA project.

The most important development to come out of the frenzy around this album came on Thursday when, on one of the snippets West played, a verse from Jay-Z was heard.

This is the first time in more than eight years since the two were last heard on the same song. After years of rumoured tensions that were exacerbated by West’s rants about his feelings towards the Rocnation founder, it appears that The Throne is back and of course, the internet absolutely went off into pandemonium.

According to Jay-Z’s engineer and DJ, Young Guru, the 4:44 rap CEO turned the verse in on Thursday at 16:00, only hours before West made it to the listening session.

Here is a snippet of the song featuring Jay-Z:

it’s also believed that DONDA will include appearances from:

  • Lil Baby
  • Roddy Ricch
  • Travis Scott
  • Young Thug
  • Don Toliver
  • Playboi Carti
  • Baby Keep

Knowing Ye, he may have a few unlisted A-list features on the album.

Social media demands DONDA

On Friday, the top-trending topic in the world was West’s album that, at the time this article was published, was nowhere to be seen on streaming platforms.

The rapper’s label and handlers have, at this time, not said a word about the reason behind the delay. Here are some of the reactions we picked out on social media.