When we think of Kanye West and his career as an artist we do not think of him as an entirely balanced artist. We think of one album being completely different from the other. For instance, Yeezus sounds nothing like The College Dropout yet it sounds amazing. Donda has a mixture of three of Kanye’s most divisive albums, Yeezus, The Life of Pablo, and Jesus is King. Overall I was pleased to listen to this album because I got to see a different side to Kanye but I still got what I expected in some parts. Apart from 1 or 2 tracks, Donda is an overall well balanced album in terms of instruments, sounds, and lyrical subject matter.
Ojivolta is a production duo who contributed on 19 songs on the 27 song album. They contributed a majority of the organ and piano sounds, which were a highlight of the album. We hear the church organ sound on Hurricane, Junya, Praise God, 24, Keep My Spirit Alive, Jesus Lord, etc. The most beautiful examples of organs being used in this album are Jesus Lord and 24. Other instrumentation used in this album I enjoyed were the guitar melody on Jail. Industrial sounding synths are used a lot and we can thank Gessafelstien being a contributor to this album for this.
808’s and Heartbreaks sounding percussion is heard on Jonah and it is amazing. This track is what it would sound like if Lil Durk was on that classic album, but he ended up on this future classic album (give it time). The worst drum pattern is on Off the Grid and it is due to the lack of quality in all modern drill drum patterns. The drums at the end of Jail are well done but the best drum patterns are when the drums are more minimalistic. Examples are in the songs Ok Ok, Jesus Lord, and God Breathed. God Breathed sounds like a track straight out of Yeezus. The worst song is Tell the Vision, the piano is atrocious.
The lyrical subject matter is mostly about dead loved ones and how they have impacted each feature and the main artist to do better through faith and self discovery. This is far from a scattered lot of tracks, this is a carefully put together project with the lyrics mostly being inspirational and about personal struggles. The best verses from features are Dababy on Jail Pt. 2, Jay Electronica on Jesus Lord, and Lil Durk on Jonah. The most touching lyrics are found on the songs 24 and Come to Life.
Come to Life is a top 10 Kanye song, it is about his desire for another life and his regret for how he acts. Kanye wishes he listened to his wife and wishes that business did not get in the way of family. Kanye West states, “Should've written ‘em down in pen, and maybe they’ll come to life.” This is an inspiring message to lose with regret and about analyzing your situation and using faith and inspiration to change your reality to not have anymore regret. Kanye showcases in this song that he has used his faith and inspiration to change himself and allow himself to be more free in life, this song is truly fucking amazing and touches my soul, when it is not playing it is ringing in my head that is how good the fucking piano is. This song fuck it this album is better than Whole Lotta Red, Illmatic, reasonable doubt. I can only compare this to Take Care, Aleph, Blackland Radio 66.6, and Kill Yourself 13. In conclusion, Donda is Kanye West’s most balanced album.
This is the wizard, maddsnake, mike hass, signing out.
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