After a series of stadium-filling listening parties, Kanye West has finally released Donda to streaming services.
The long-awaited album, now spanning 26 songs, arrived on Apple Music (which live-streamed West’s Donda events) and Spotify on Sunday morning, three days after the rapper’s controversial Chicago event that recreated West’s childhood home and featured appearances by Marilyn Manson and DaBaby.
Over the three listening parties, Donda has featured guest vocalists and rappers like the Weeknd and Lil Baby (“Hurricane”), Travis Scott and Baby Keem (“Praise God”), Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke (“Tell the Vision”), Jay Electronica and the Lox (“Jesus Lord”), Kid Cudi (“Moon”), Pusha T, Roddy Ricch, Ariana Grande (“Donda”) and many more. Notably, at the third listening party, West replaced a Jay-Z verse on “Jail” with a new verse by DaBaby; however, the current streaming version of Donda reinstates Jay-Z’s appearance; “Jail” also credits Brian Warner, a.k.a. Marilyn Manson, as a co-songwriter.
Following the appearance of the new single “No Child Left Behind” in an Olympics-themed Beats ad, Donda was initially scheduled for a July 23rd release, then pushed to August 6th, then delayed August-something before its arrival on August 29th; Kanye’s longtime manager Abou “Bu” Thiam promised on social media that the album would finally be released following the Donda listening event at Soldier Field in West’s native Chicago.
While West has released Donda to streaming services, that doesn’t mean he’s done working on it or that this is the finished product; The Life of Pablo was continually tinkered with, re-uploaded and reedited following its release in 2016; in fact, after initially publishing this article, West added a 27th track, “Jail pt. 2,” though that song is apparently held up by clearance issues on DaBaby’s end, as West noted on Instagram Sunday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTJePC7s9D3
Donda Track List
- Donda Chant
- Jail
- God Breathed
- Off the Grid
- Hurricane
- Praise God
- Jonah
- Ok Ok
- Junya
- Believe What I Say
- 24
- Remote Control
- Moon
- Heaven and Hell
- Donda
- Keep My Spirit Alive
- Jesus Lord
- New Again
- Tell the Vision
- Lord I Need You
- Pure Souls
- Come to Life
- No Child Left Behind
- Ok Ok, Pt. 2
- Junya Pt. 2
- Jesus Lord, Pt. 2
From Rolling Stone US