Maps of Music

Donda (2021)

Where the lyrics of Donda take you, and where it was really made.

West recorded Donda in a Wyoming ranch, a Honolulu studio, and a stadium locker room he converted into a studio, and it became his tenth consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200.

Key places

Locker room turned into a studio (2021)

Recording site Mercedes-Benz Stadium — After the listening event at this stadium, West moved into one of the locker rooms and converted it into a studio. He finished the recording and mixing there with producer Mike Dean. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Wyoming ranch sessions (2021)

Recording site Bighorn Mountain Ranch — West held further recording sessions at this ranch in Greybull, Wyoming, which he had bought earlier. The point is placed at the city center. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Jamaica sessions with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn (2021)

Recording site Dynamic Sounds — In September 2020, West recorded music with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn at this studio in Jamaica. The point is placed at the city center. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Honolulu studio sessions (2021)

Recording site Island Sound Studio — Court documents obtained in June 2021 revealed that West was recording for the album at this studio in Honolulu, Hawaii. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

San Francisco session with Syleena Johnson (2021)

Recording site Hyde Street Studios — Singer-songwriter Syleena Johnson worked on music in San Francisco around a month after the Honolulu reports. She said she recorded Donda Chant in that session. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Donda: tenth studio album by American rapper Kanye West
• Released 29 August 2021 through GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings
• Primarily produced by West, BoogzDaBeast, Dem Jointz, Mike Dean, and Ojivolta
• Most material recorded between November 2019 and August 2021
• Credited guests: the Weeknd and Lil Baby; uncredited features from Jay-Z, Marilyn Manson, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, and many others
• Sound described as an amalgamation of 808s & Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezus, and Jesus Is King
• Genres: hip-hop, gospel, progressive rap, and pop, with elements of trap and drill
• West's longest album, exploring his Christian faith, righteousness, and estrangement from then-wife Kim Kardashian
• Named after his late mother, Donda West
• Minimalist and maximalist at once, with darker lyrics and production than many prior works
• Reduced drums; most instances of profanity censored
• Deluxe edition released 14 November 2021 with five additional songs
• Final album West released through a major label

Background

• Announced under the title God's Country; renamed Donda on 21 July 2020 in honor of his mother
• Name briefly changed to Donda: With Child, later reversed
• A release date of 24 July 2020 was announced, but the album missed it
• September 2020: West sought to buy back his master recordings from Universal Music Group
• Went radio silent during the promotion, wearing a full face mask in public
• Information about the album was relayed through collaborators such as Consequence, Malik Yusef, Justin LaBoy, and Pusha T
• Listening events were held at stadiums across the US, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
• A Beats by Dre commercial featuring Sha'Carri Richardson, scored by 'No Child Left Behind', teased a 23 July release date

Recording

• Sessions began a month after Jesus Is King was released
• BoogzDaBeast was called to Wyoming and brought 166 beats, mostly unfinished ideas
• West freestyled over 99 of them in what the producer calls 'That One Night in Wyoming'
• March 2020: recording in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before returning to Wyoming due to COVID-19
• Further sessions at Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming
• Lil Baby was flown to Wyoming on 22 July 2020 to record for the album
• September 2020: recording with Buju Banton and Saint Jhn at Gargamel Studio in Jamaica
• May 2021: Playboi Carti joined West in the studio
• June 2021 court documents revealed sessions at Island Sound Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Syleena Johnson worked on music in San Francisco around a month later, including 'Donda Chant'
• After the 22 July 2021 listening event, West converted a locker room at Mercedes-Benz Stadium into a studio for finishing and mixing with Mike Dean
• Jay-Z recorded his verse for 'Jail' hours before that listening event

Cover

• The first cover, tweeted in July 2020, showed an infrared scheme of orange and red with green mountains and purple and white clouds, designed by Pierre-Louis Auvray
• The promo artwork of July 2021 adapted a Louise Bourgeois gouache painting created in 2007
• The final artwork is a plain black square, chosen after West posted numerous potential covers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Ye (born Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
• Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago; began producing in the mid-1990s for Chicago-area artists.
• Signed to Roc-A-Fella Records as a recording artist after producing for Jay-Z's label.

Members

• Solo artist; formed the Go-Getters group with GLC, Timmy G, and Arrowstar (1999).

Career

• Debut The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005) earned critical acclaim.
• Released eleven US Billboard 200 number-one albums; five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
• Known for stylistic shifts from chamber pop to electropop, gospel, and industrial rap.
• Founded GOOD Music label; ventured into fashion with Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Adidas (Yeezy).
• Has 24 Grammy Awards and sold an estimated 160 million records.
• Faced major controversy for antisemitic statements from 2022 and later expressed remorse.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Donda polarized critics; they generally considered it an improvement over Jesus Is King and praised its composition
• Critics were divided over its cohesiveness and criticized the long runtime
• Slant Magazine: Charles Lyons-Burt called it West's most unforgiving self-portrait and praised its themes and production
• Variety: Chris Willman found the music close to unassailable and praised the pacing, except for the last four remixes
• Consequence: Marchus Shorter hailed it as the rapper's best album since Yeezus, ambitious and raw, and cohesive after several revisions
• Exclaim!: Riley Wallace called it West's best body of work in recent memory, mixed on the features, and criticized its length
• NME: Rhian Daly felt it was not a rushed job but found a large amount of filler alongside enough gems
• Los Angeles Times: Mikael Wood felt it registers more as a way of maintaining Kanye's social standing than an organized aesthetic experience
• Rolling Stone: Paul Thompson found it more considered and musically coherent than West's projects of the preceding five years, but uneven and too long
• The Atlantic: Spencer Kornhaber wrote a negative review, saying supposed transcendence comes to feel like regression
• Metacritic: mixed or average reviews, with a weighted average of 53 out of 100 from 19 critic scores
• AnyDecentMusic?: 5.4 out of 10, based on its assessment of the critical consensus

Reappraisal

• Complex: placed sixth on its list of the best albums of 2021
• Time: ranked seventh on its list for the year
• Billboard: placed 39th on its 50 Best Albums of 2021 staff list
• 2022 Grammy Awards: nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album
• 'Jail' won Best Rap Song and 'Hurricane' won Best Melodic Rap Performance

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number one with 309,000 album-equivalent units
• Tenth consecutive album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, tying Eminem's record
• RIAA platinum on 9 March 2022 for 1,000,000 certified units
• UK Albums Chart: number one, West's third UK chart-topper and first since Yeezus
• Canada: topped the Canadian Albums Chart; Music Canada platinum for 80,000 units
• Australia: ARIA Albums chart number one, West's fourth number one there
• New Zealand: number one; double platinum from RMNZ for 30,000 units
• France: first number-one album for West, selling 9,476 copies in five days
• Denmark: IFPI Danmark platinum for 20,000 units on 3 May 2022
• Billboard Hot 100: 'Hurricane' reached number six and 'Off the Grid' reached number 11

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Mercedes-Benz Stadium listening event on 22 July 2021 sold out its 42,000 capacity and set a record for the biggest Apple Music livestream worldwide, with over 3.3 million viewers
• A replica of West's childhood home was built at Soldier Field because Chicago's Buildings Department did not allow West to move his home from the street address
• Todd Rundgren said he recorded heavily for the album but grew frustrated after a lack of feedback, and called West 'a dilettante'
• 'Jail pt 2' was unavailable on Spotify at release because DaBaby's manager had not cleared his verse before release
• Universal Music denied releasing the album without West's approval and called his claims 'preposterous'
• The Donda Stem Player, announced at $200, lets users remix the album's songs using stems

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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