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Everything we know about Kanye West's forthcoming 'Donda' record

21 July 2021 | 1:50 pm | Parry Tritsiniotis

From features, sonic direction, track listing, artwork and heaps more, here's everything we know about Kanye West and his forthcoming 'Donda' LP.

When Kanye West drops an album, the whole world stops. Not merely just a release of music, the unveiling of a Kanye record is one, a miraculous thing, and two a cultural event. West album rollouts typically feature everything from extravagant advertising, secret listening parties, star studded celebrity cameos and of course the eerie anticipation and chance that nothing will be dropping at all. The release of his 10th LP, 'Donda' has lived up to all those standards. There's a lot of information circling the internet at the moment about the record, so here's everything we know so far about 'Donda'.

Today, Kanye West confirmed the hotly anticipated release of his new album, 'Donda'. The release was confirmed in a new advertisement which was aired during Game 6 of the NBA finals, which featured American track and field sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson who has become infamous after being banned from the Olympics after testing positive for Marijuana use. Stealing the show however is the new Kanye music which soundtracks it, specifically a snippet of track, “No Child Left Behind,” which marks our first known preview of 'Donda'.

It is confirmed that the record will be dropping this Friday the 23rd of July. The record takes its name from Kanye's late mother, acting as the follow up to his 2019, met with mix reviews record, Jesus is King. Following a private listening party last week, early listeners have reported that the record leans more gospel than Christian. A range of features were heard, including Lil Baby, Pusha T, Baby Keem, Travis Scott and Tyler, The Creator. There's also a rumour that Kanye is swearing again, which for some weird reason makes me excited? The track list is also rumoured to feature 3 Donda West monologues which splits the album into 3 parts. Spotted in the back of an Instagram video, the track list features a range of already leaked demos from Kanye. None bigger than the widely hyped Hurricane (formerly known as 80 Degrees) which has been circling YouTube for the past 12 months.

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Sonically the project is rumoured to be a gospel album that toes the line between club and church. The lyrics and themes are those around Christianity, however still featuring slow 808 influenced trap. It's also safe to assume that there will be elements of his older work throughout the tape. With songs already rumoured to sound similar to Jesus is King in theme, with strong influence from The Life of Pablo and Late Registration.

French American sculptor, painter and printmaker Louise Bourgeois has taken care of the album artwork. She's made art throughout her life to deal with the trauma of losing her mother at a young age, perfectly fitting the albums rumoured themes.

The rumoured tracklist based on a tweet is:

DONDA

REMOTE

DAYLIGHT

HURRICANE

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

NEW AGAIN

I KNOW GOD BREATHED ON THIS

24/YOU'RE GONNA BE OK

COME TO LIFE

 

The only thing we can truely confirm is that the world is on edge. It's incredible to think that without saying a single word, Kanye West has the most hyped album of 2021 by far.

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