Donda. Donda. Donda. Donda. Donda.
Donda has always come across as a loose assortment of ideas never fully fleshed out or strung together thoughtfully. Songs that house within moments of brilliance, though never truly took shape, the draft to an album incomplete. Instead of taking it in then, as a complete work, Donda is appreciated most through the impact left behind. The listening parties leading up which were one-of-a-kind in scope, bringing people together to experience an event like little I can point to in recent music. Over the course of a month we see these songs shift, the Pure Souls piano is traded for a synth, Cudi gets then loses a verse spot on Remote Control, Never Abandon Your Family is pulled for the deluxe; but for each change I’d consider negative, we also receive a Kanye verse on Off the Grid, Jesus Lord with Jay Elec, Come to Life, and Believe What I Say. It’s a massive spectacle, though one with little care for developing all the scattershot ideas presented. And therein lies where my troubles begin, the evolving track list and shoddy musical choices work for an event like the listening party, as you bear witness to this project take shape and solidify. However, that which can be forgiven in free-form motion becomes far harder to excuse once set in stone. The holes expected to be filled were abandoned, left to show as cracks in the foundation. Donda is more sessions than album in many respects, you have the many hallmarks of a rushed Kanye, clear punch-ins from line to line, occasionally within the same line even. The slurring of words being kept as final takes and overcrowded mixes of tracks like Praise God make it hard to hear what’s being said without reading along to lyrics on Genius. Kanye’s writing exceeds or impedes depending on where you land in the track list, Jesus Lord showcasing both sides of the coin within a single track. Ye’s verse is split between a beautiful showcase of vulnerability speaking directly on death, faith, and his mom; and a stilted retreading of topics covered with far more grace on Cudi Montage. The lyrical themes of Donda are thin and disparate, having you wonder what exactly is to be conveyed through this album? There’s no through-line, only a handful of tracks are tight enough to work in isolation, the overwhelming amount of filler kills it, dead on arrival. The features, while often quite good, push Kanye into the background, further obscuring what's communicated. Needless passages which go nowhere, songs that have no relation to one another, others that do, but aren’t fleshed out in a cogent manner. It's all far too disjointed for a visionary.
With any Kanye album there’s an expectation that, however you may feel regarding it, he will be direct and clear in what he’s expressing. That passion and uncompromising attitude which is the lifeblood of his finest work, that focus and pointedness is not present on Donda; the album, for all its many flash-in-the-pan moments, is not saved from a lack of direction and distillation. When you take the entire project as one, not cherry-picking its best, it’s a chore to get through. Rushed to release similarly to Pablo, but with a fraction of that album’s cohesion, creativity, or effort. No doubt it’s fun to revisit this point in time, the twists and turns of whether Donda will drop, the elaborate sets for each listening party, it was hard not to be enraptured by. Feelings brought up in recollecting are not the same evoked by returning to this album however, and what we have is neither markedly different from the LPs in a refreshing way, nor captivating in its atmosphere, which is what made those performances hold such weight. Donda ultimately rings hollow for me, a flexion point in Kanye’s discography for when showcasing a coherent message was no longer in the cards.
With any Kanye album there’s an expectation that, however you may feel regarding it, he will be direct and clear in what he’s expressing. That passion and uncompromising attitude which is the lifeblood of his finest work, that focus and pointedness is not present on Donda; the album, for all its many flash-in-the-pan moments, is not saved from a lack of direction and distillation. When you take the entire project as one, not cherry-picking its best, it’s a chore to get through. Rushed to release similarly to Pablo, but with a fraction of that album’s cohesion, creativity, or effort. No doubt it’s fun to revisit this point in time, the twists and turns of whether Donda will drop, the elaborate sets for each listening party, it was hard not to be enraptured by. Feelings brought up in recollecting are not the same evoked by returning to this album however, and what we have is neither markedly different from the LPs in a refreshing way, nor captivating in its atmosphere, which is what made those performances hold such weight. Donda ultimately rings hollow for me, a flexion point in Kanye’s discography for when showcasing a coherent message was no longer in the cards.
