A month after 'Jesus Is King' was released in 2019, Kanye West began working on his tenth studio album, and after calling on producer BoogzDaBeast to join him, in March 2020 they began recording new music in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before he returned to Wyoming with his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial version of 'Donda' was set for release on 24 July 2020, under the title of 'God's Country', but it experienced multiple delays and continuous alterations to its songs and track-list prior to its final release. The album's style has been described as an amalgamation of hip hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop, and incorporates elements of trap and drill. It is both minimalist and maximalist, with darker lyrical content and production in comparison to West's prior efforts, in addition to a reduced use of drums and complete absence of profanity. Themes explored include the convergence of West's Christian faith, righteousness, his estrangement from his then-wife Kim Kardashian, and his late mother Donda West, after whom the album is named. After missing the first release date, West held further recording sessions at Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming in July 2020, with Lil Baby recording a verse for 'Hurricane', and in September he recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn in Jamaica. Work on the record was then postponed until March 2021, when he resumed recording amid his divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian, and in July he held a listening event for the re-named 'Donda' at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, after which he took up temporary residence in one of the locker rooms, converting it into a studio for finishing the recording and mixing with producer Mike Dean.
After failing to meet the album's scheduled release date of 23 July 2021, West continued to record and live in Mercedes-Benz Stadium up until the second listening party held there on 5 August 2021. 'Donda' was released on 29 August 2021 by GOOD Music, after experiencing several delays to it's release date, and it was West's last release with the label, following the expiry of his contract. The album was met with polarizing reviews from music critics, with some criticizing it mercilessly, while others hailed it as the rapper's best album since 'Yeezus'. The 'Donda: With Child' era has a lot of unreleased content, the majority of which would leak around September 2023, and fans have been compiling alternative running orders for an expanded album ever since. Some are happy just to use the original leaks, while others have remixed them, or added extra instruments, but for this post I've listened to a number of different versions, and tried to use just the music that West recorded. I haven't used any tracks that appeared on the official release under the same title, even if the music was drastically different, and that means that this album is a completely stand-alone piece, possibly more in line with the original 'God's Country', as it includes a number of songs from those sessions. The cover is the original iconic green-red-blue artwork that ended up being replaced with an all-black image on the album's official release.
Track listing
01 Donda / Blood Of The Lamb
02 With Child / Precious
03 Run (Cops Flash Put 'Em Up)
04 Life Of The Party
05 In God's Country
06 God's Country
07 Alien
08 Welcome To My Life
08 New Body
10 12,000 Acres
11 Our King
12 Eternal Life
13 This Is The Glory
14 Wake The Dead
15 Spread My Wings/Off The Meds
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