'Donda': Why didn't Kanye West drop his album? Here's what to expect when it releases
Kanye West's recent tweets sent fans into a frenzy, with many joking about the artist's penchant for being confusingly outspoken and others sincerely concerned about his mental wellbeing. But when he announced that he would be dropping a new album, 'Donda: With Child', on Friday, fans couldn't help but erupt into euphoria. After all, outside of his personal struggles, West is considered to be one of the most gifted hip-hop artists of modern times. Unfortunately, he's also one of the most unpredictable. So when 'Donda' failed to release at the promised hour, fans weren't surprised. They've come to expect the unexpected as far as West is concerned.
Many fans have already begun speculating what could have gone wrong. One fan said, "Kanye probably locked up in a psych. No album and he stopped tweeting." This naturally stems from West's recent tweets, which claimed that wife Kim Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, were trying to "lock" him up. Kim later shared that he was going through an episode stemming from bipolar disorder. Others, however, say West has a propensity to drop albums several hours after the supposed release time and remain hopeful that they will get to hear 'Donda' soon. One fan shared, "Yeah we don’t know. He is Kanye. He could just drop it at a weird time," and another declared, "Kanye ain’t dropping rn, Taylor [Swift] and Logic gon have their moment then BAM, Kanye gon swoop in and be #1 in the charts."
West has long been considered one of the most interesting and talented rappers of the modern generation. But the artist took a detour in 2018, beginning with the announcement of his ninth studio album 'Yandhi'. He would then branch out into Gospel music, stating he had been "radically saved," before teaming up with the Sunday Service Choir and dropping 'Jesus Is King', his actual ninth album, in 2019, and the companion album 'Jesus Is Born', a Christmas release. West elected to omit any explicit lyrics for these releases. West also announced he was collaborating with Dr Dre on 'Jesus Is Kind Part II'. In May 2020, cinematographer Arthur Jafa prematurely revealed that he was working on a new video with West, stating the upcoming album would be titled 'God's Country'. The video was later revealed to be 'Wash Us in the Blood', and West confirmed the album title. In July, he shared the title had been changed to 'Donda' in honor of his late mother and revealed it would be released on July 24.
But since that date has come and will soon be gone, fans think it is evident West does not intend to drop the album. One fan asked, "Did Kanye troll all of us?" and several others have commented, "Donda? More like donda esta the f*cking album Kanye." In the absence of the album itself, many are left to wonder: what would it have sounded like had it dropped?
As part of the album's announcement, West also shared a tracklist. While it did not include 'Wash Us in the Blood', it did feature 20 tracks in total including 'Donda', a track that features West’s late mother reciting part of KRS-One’s 'Sound of Da Police', 'New Body', which was meant to feature Nicki Minaj and as originally slated to appear on 'Jesus Is King', and previously unreleased tracks such as 'God's Country' and 'God Breathed On This', the latter of which leaked online in 2019. A second tracklist shared by West featured only 12 songs, while a third one features 17 in total. Based on these reveals, it appears to be a blend of West's new-found love for Gospel and his own brand of hip-hop, all seemingly in dedication to his beloved mother. The album itself is classified as 'Christian hip-hop' and is most likely going to be a pathway to the 'Jesus Is King Part II' album, for which a release date is yet to be confirmed.
In his various tweets, West also alleged that he attempted to get rapper Lil Baby on the album, stating he was his favorite rapper, but claims Baby was unwilling to work with him. The rapper addressed the claim in a tweet stating, "Nobody told me ye was trying to get me on a song / that’s f*cced up," indicating either West didn't try to contact him or someone on the Lil Baby team messed up real bad. Either way, fans will have to wait a while longer for that collab. As for the 'when', therein lies the million-dollar question.
West is no stranger to delaying his own releases. More often than not, if he states an album's on the way, it certainly is. It just takes a few hours and in some cases a few days to hit digital streaming platforms. As one fan pointed out, "Kanye typically releases albums in the morning. go to sleep DONDA is coming soon." In other words, given West's own track record, 'Donda' is very likely only a few hours away.