Donda

Donda is the tenth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings on August 29, 2021. Donda was primarily produced by West, BoogzDaBeast, Dem Jointz, Mike Dean, and Ojivolta, and most of the material was recorded between November 2019 and August 2021. Guest appearances include the Weeknd, Jay-Z, Marilyn Manson, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Lil Yachty, Baby Keem, Playboi Carti, Jay Electronica, Lil Baby, DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, Ty Dolla Sign, Fivio Foreign, Lil Durk, Pop Smoke, the Lox, Shenseea, Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Young Thug, and KayCyy; the deluxe edition adds guest vocals from André 3000 and Tyler, the Creator.

Donda's sound has been described as an amalgamation of West's previous albums, including 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), Yeezus (2013), and Jesus Is King (2019). It encompasses hip-hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop, with elements of trap and drill. Themes explored include West's Christian faith, righteousness, his estrangement from his then-wife Kim Kardashian, and his late mother Donda West, for whom the album is named. It is both minimalist and maximalist, with darker lyrical content and production than West's prior work, in addition to reduced drums and a complete absence of profanity.

West promoted Donda with large-scale listening parties at stadiums throughout the US. "Hurricane" was released as Donda's lead single in September 2021, followed by "Life of the Party", "Believe What I Say", and "Off the Grid" in November. Donda polarized music critics, who generally considered it an improvement over West's previous album Jesus Is King and praised the composition, but were divided over its cohesiveness and criticized the long runtime. DaBaby and Marilyn Manson's appearances generated controversy due to the respective allegations of homophobia and sexual abuse against them. Nonetheless, several publications named Donda one of 2021's best albums. It was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 64th Grammy Awards, and "Jail" and "Hurricane" won for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance.

Donda received the most first-day streams for an album in 2021 on both Apple Music and Spotify. It was West's tenth consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, tying the record set by Eminem. It topped the charts in 18 other regions, including France, Australia, and the United Kingdom. It has platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and received gold certification in Canada and New Zealand by Music Canada and Recorded Music NZ. In October 2021, West and Kano Computing released the Donda Stem Player, allowing users to remix Donda's songs. The deluxe edition, with five additional songs, was released on November 14.

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