Kanye West - Donda Album Review (Overview + Rating)

[@lukejamesbgn]

So...was Donda worth the wait for you guys? And here's the link to my Kanye West discography ranking podcast: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGXZp6yNqNyWkJo Shout-out to Captain on the background beat! soundcloud.com/yoitscaptain

[@maryannappiagyei4277]

Awesome album love but. Long list. TRACK LIST. Worst. Song Jail, Pt. 2 Feature dababy marilyn manson.

[@davidrowe762]

I went into this album expecting to hate it like I have Kanye’s last 3-4 albums (besides KSG), but to my absolute surprise, I really loved this thing. The only songs I didn’t like on here were the weird Pop Smoke track and the unnecessary Pt. 2’s (besides Junya Pt. 2, I would personally swap that for the original and then cut all the bonus tracks). Other than that, every song on here brought some interesting ideas, either musically or lyrically, and to me sounded like the most focus and effort that’s gone into any of his albums since maybe MBDTF. I thought he really stepped up his rapping from his last few projects. His verses on Jesus Lord, Pure Souls, Lord I Need You, Keep My Spirit Alive, Off The Grid, and some others all felt very introspective and actually had me caring about what he was saying. For the most part, outside of a few lines (like the Giannis one on Junya), I felt like he wasn’t giving us those sloppy goofy ass bars that I’ve personally hated about some of his albums like TLOP, and was actually giving us interesting content and decent technical ability. I also think this album has his best raw singing to date honestly. A bit rough around the edges at points, but he really shocked me with how impassioned and smooth he sounded on some tracks like Come To Life, 24 and Ok Ok. As for the production, I liked how he gave us a nice variety of sounds, but that all fit together with a kind of heavenly aura. Some of the drum work on songs like Off The Grid and Praise God was really impressive to me too! Overall, a pretty great body of work from Kanye for me. But I totally understand why a lot of people don’t care for it. And I’m definitely not one of those insane Kanye meat-riders who thinks everyone needs to love it or they don’t know music 😂 every point you made in the video is fair and I can see what you mean, I just personally hear some things a bit differently. Great review my man as always! (Ps. Simone Richards is goated for sure)

[@lukejamesbgn]

I appreciate you taking the time to write out this comment! Your points are very well put together and I see where you’re coming from, even though I feel much differently. We can always agree on Simone Richards though, and that’s what matters! 👊🏽 😂

[@ves138]

Fully agreed. Best album since MBDTF to me as far as solo kanye goes. 8/10 from me

[@ves138]

Awesome review. I def think this is kanyes best effort since MBDTF, it actually feels memorable and more complete for once. One issue i have with is trendiness of some songs, kanye really doesnt need to give us trendy shit except Off The Grid, thats my favorite song of the year. I CANT believe how that beat switched to a Drill beat for Fivio so effortlessly... Anyway, 8/10 for me and Moon is really underrated imo. Sounded like something straight outta Man On The Moon 3 which was one of my favorite albums of last year. Thanks for the content Luke!

[@achronos178]

Luke seems like his having a blast today, At that length I just don't even want to go into the album. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@lukejamesbgn]

You’re welcome and thanks for watching! I was in a really good mood recording. 😂

[@rushmore309]

Really loving this album. Find myself revisiting it daily. Respect and enjoyed hearing your opinion though. *Also, pretty damn impressive Tim Allen impersonation.

[@lukejamesbgn]

Glad you're enjoying it...and also the Tim Allen impersonation hahaha!

[@williamclarke3162]

So first off, shout out to you for the references (I need to look up Simone Richards tho) Second, I do think this is like an improved version of Jesus Is King (I feel like this is what he really wanted to make). Some songs I could argue are some of his best in a while. There is a good album within this i just wish things were trimmed down and weren't repetitive as I tuned out on a few parts.

[@carlosrp23]

There are some great ideas here and I think it's way better than Jesus is King, but it's so convoluted it feels like a chore to listen to it.

[@hxc4ever301]

I feel the same way, this could be better if he cut around 7-9 songs

[@intelligencecycle3523]

This felt like he’s scrambling for so many ideas and all of them fell by the waist side it could’ve been a mixtape honestly it seemingly feels like a rough draft. For all the build up hype around nothing with the typical shuffling of the release dates while toying with the fans you expect him to try to at least give us some quality. There are phenomenal moments & reminders of his old material like on Keep my spirit alive, Jesus Lord, Believe what I Say & Heaven or hell those were On some MBDTF type of songs & Jonah felt like it could’ve been on 808s and heartbreak. The Simone Richards reference is on point and funny as heck didn’t expect him to throw it in their but it’s Ye he always throw in off the cusps references and funny lines. but the album is weak didn’t have high hopes for it because of his past at the end of the day. Myself personally fell off completely on Kanye musically.

[@PakRT84]

Thanks for the review man, always good to see some new reviews here. Even though it is hard to ignore all the fuzz around Kanye, I still always give his albums a fair chance. This one is really a mixed bag, some bright spots but also a lot of stuff that I don't really care for. The length is not a problem in general, but too many tracks that I don't need make it kinda hard to go through as a whole. So yeah, a playlist with the best songs is probably the best thing to do for me. It doesn't make sense to fight about taste and I don't have a problem with people liking this one a lot. Still, I feel the Kanye stanbase needs to get back to earth. Some people even call the Donda chant a deep masterpiece and stuff like that. They need to stop acting like Kanye is the "deepest" person on planet earth. I also feel that he is mostly at his best here when he gets introspective, but all of that isn't anything groundbreaking or heavenly in general. I still give Kanye his credit, I still like his first few albums a lot and he is always there for some really good tracks, but his stuff didn't feel really "grand" for me since a long time. Also this whole Drake-Kanye situation is so surreal for me. I don't know how to say this without sounding like a grumpy old head. I mean, Iam an old head but always kept an open mind. Anyway I get the pop appeal of Drake and Kanye, but if we are honest both of them are mediocre rappers and singers (Kanye is worse as a singer for sure) and don't even write their own shit. Again, I really don't hate on them and get their appeal in the pop world. What I don't get is why the discussion about them in the hip hop world is still so big. I mean like which hip hop fan, with a taste that goes only a bit further than all the stuff that is on TV, really needs to depend on what Kanye and Drake do. Who needs them to save their musical life? Hahhaa..i hope it came across what I mean. I have my troubles explaining in English. Well i don't know who gives a damn about my rant..but yeah..i stop now anyway 😂

[@blackflame4506]

At this point, I expect this album to be bloated with some filler but damn 27 tracks with almost 2 hour runtime, there was some good tracks on it like Off the Grid, Jonah, Jesus Lord part 2 but I feel like he could cut out some of the bloat, pick the best 15 and call it a day. Thanks for the review Luke and next is Drake's record.... man you gonna be busy like honey sticking on peaches lol

[@lukejamesbgn]

Let's just hope Drake's album isn't almost 2 hours!

[@thenameisomari]

@@lukejamesbgn 1 hr. & 26 mins 😂 Not too bad, I guess!

[@hotpancakes9814]

the last 4 tracks are bonus tracks, and if you take that into account, this album is about as long as Take Care by drake which is like 1 hour 27 minutes. i am a a day one fan, was old enough to buy the college dropout cd when it was in stores, and i love this album! but i respect the opinion, not everyone’s gonna like everything!

[@lukejamesbgn]

I don’t mind long albums if I love the music (I think Take Care is Drake’s best), but when I don’t, as was the case here, it’s really hard to get through. Thanks for watching and I’m glad you enjoyed the album!

[@niklasdalibor]

already excited for the clb review 😭😂😂

[@lukejamesbgn]

It ain’t gonna be pretty!

[@upfulsoul826]

Your review was great; very informative. I think he makes albums for his live performances now where he can add theatrics rather than for good listening experiences like his earlier stuff.

[@lukejamesbgn]

Thanks for watching! That’s an interesting take you have, too, because we’ve definitely seen a lot of showmanship leading up to this.

[@DanielRGonza]

I loved this album 8/10

[@lukejamesbgn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@DanielRGonza]

@@lukejamesbgn thank you and good review 😂 hopefully by next week I see that Rant video about CLB so I can laugh

[@DanielRGonza]

24 is the type of gospel I wanted on Jesus is King

[@lukejamesbgn]

As much as I wasn't a big fan of that song, it's probably still better than everything on JIK so I feel you!

[@OGNICKMARSH]

I agree, this album was a mess. Donda Chant was fucking stupid.

[@luckyigbokwe2811]

Hey Luke James, are you going to review the Dark-Lo X V Don album titled " Charlie Pope ", Rome Streetz X futurewave album titled " Razor Edge ", Rigz from Da cloth album titled " Wake Up ", OT the Real " The Evil Empire ",Millyz X Dave East EP titled " Pablo and Blanco & Dave East X Harry Fraud project titled " Hoffa ", Millyz " album Blanco 4 " Your Ol Droog album titled " It's time , Papoose "July" & "August" EP, Boldy James X Alchemist album titled "BO Jackson", West Side Gunn album titled "HWH8 " , OT the Real album titled "The Evil empire" & Tsu Surf album titled "Until further notice" , Ransom projects titled "7 deadly sins " & "Heavy is the Head " ? Please I will like to hear your thoughts on all these projects , as they all came out this year and some of them came out recently too.

[@lukejamesbgn]

A bunch of these will be featured on the next Rundown episode, actually!

[@luckyigbokwe2811]

@@lukejamesbgn Especially please, you have to give papoose his flowers. I know you are not much of a fan of his. But I think he has been dropping the best music of his career this year to me. So hopefully you will review one of the EP'S thanks.

[@luckyigbokwe2811]

@@lukejamesbgn I will be looking forward to them soon.

[@huey6248]

ion know maybe i’m a weirdo but i love donda chant also 24 is one of my favourites but i’m a big kobe fan so it just kinda hit me harder (PS tell the vision was only on here so his family could cop some royalties)

[@lukejamesbgn]

I didn't know that, thanks! Nice gesture by Kanye.

[@ziyadomar5891]

Great review! A highlight bar for me is jay Z’s bar “pray 5 times a day, so many felonies”

[@lukejamesbgn]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, Jay had some nice lines even though the flows weren't too crazy IMO.

[@Knucklejob]

The Magikarp thing you said had me rolling

[@queeeeericuraaaaaaaa]

I'm a day 1 with Kanye, and I gotta say, after the spectacular failure that was Jesus Is King, this felt like such a relief, I do enjoy it, but I get a lot of your criticisms about it tho. It's not one of Kanye's top tier albums, but I wouldn't rank it on the lowest either. It's gotta be right in the middle imo. And man, why don't u like 24?? That was my favorite song of 2021 lmao. Great to hear your insight :)

[@TheMoneymakingceasar]

The omelly flows got me dying 🤣🤣🤣

[@ramseyrosario3126]

I feel you 100%

[@dylangrieb5986]

I wasnt into it at first, it started sounding samey fast and lost my interest, but ive revisited a few tracks so far and i really like them. Come to Life, Hurricane, and Jail. I’ll probably like Off The Grid when i revisit it, and i actually like Donda Chant as an opener. It sets the theme for something more personal and cathartic, and i like Moon too, though i havent revisited it yet. I imagine ill never like tell the vision. I dont like the trend of putting dead artists everywhere, like commodifying death. So so far, a few songs i love and there might be more when i relisten. On first listen, i didnt care for the lauryn hill sample, because that song is so great that im not interested in it being reworked

[@NS64-j9n]

Loving these reviews!

[@Ioriyagami00]

It's too damn long, but Weeknd's feature was fire. Wish Hurricane was a solo track

[@musicgauntlet2409]

Can't believe you weren't messin with Vory, I don't even like his music all that much but he shined on here.

[@bryceblackwell1334]

The ms hill sample was fire tho

[@lukejamesbgn]

Hard to mess that one up!

[@Hotsauceonmy]

I do agree that this album is bloated but the highs are super high for me. Some of the best Kanye songs in the past 10 years on this one

[@lukejamesbgn]

I think TLOP had higher highs, but I liked a handful of moments here!

[@RatGirlBlues]

no child left behind in worst? maaaaaaaan

[@Genesis_1984]

this is by far his best product since TLOP

[@SX1995able]

I don't even know If I like Kanye West or Just love the first five álbums anymore

[@isaiahh4108]

It’s grown on me bout this and CBL are 30-45 mins to long

[@KillaK4]

Nothing is touching college dropout- graduation. But i throughly enjoyed this album. The filler is a little bit annoying

[@SHARPEYE1]

I gotta disagree with u on this one brother

[@89Tonytone]

Kanye best album to me will always be my Beautiful dark twisted fantasy! hands down!idc what nobody says lol

[@ziyadomar5891]

From what i heard donda chant is said that many times for the age of his mom and is said in the same timings as her final heartbeat, could be wrong tho

[@jho-ve-la6915]

Dam a 5 im a old "N" so i rock a Zune so i cut the pt1's and put the pt2's got rid of interludes and 24, added ye vs ppl and wash us in blood shit hit different in my Opinion its more 7 close 8 matter of fact Donda sounds like all his album in a big pot jumbled up idk im diggin this shit hard body. Gave u a like even tho i kinda disagree.✌

[@Meltymorty]

This album was subpar at best the production was the only thing i was feeling on it jail heaven and hell keep my spirit alive are my fav tracks

[@lukejamesbgn]

Yeah I'm not getting the big hype on this album. Sometimes I think Kanye gets a bit of a pass because he's Kanye.

[@Meltymorty]

@@lukejamesbgn def agree the hardcore fans making this album seem like a masterpiece

[@lucianocruz8345]

Pokemon reference, porn reference... the culture range is ridiculous, man!

[@TheSilverPhoenix356]

Are you coming back to KZbin bro

[@TheIshShow1]

I only liked 6 songs...everything else was average or awful.

[@victorjimenez7213]

Before the stans come in. Yeah this was definitely a 5/10. Too long, boring, no good Stand out verse, lame topics, descent beats, and a bad 27 track length. After this album I came to realization that some of my favorite rappers will never be good again. Mr. West ans Shady are some of those rappers, and dude to both of them sucking for the last 4 years I finally decided im never wasting my time listening to the trash they make today bc all it does is hurt there legacy and my imagination of them as goats

[@MyTurkeySub]

This album reminds me a lot of Untitled Unmastered from Kendrick. A lot of spitball ideas that never came to be.

[@RS09523]

That Kendrick project was fire! Just my opinion. I think a lot of those songs were leftovers

[@pinkfloyd36123]

totally agree with this review, kanye being so overshadowed by features on his own album is honestly embarassing and it's crazy how far he's fallen as a rapper (and this is coming from a tlop and yeezus fan btw). i also thought the production was WILD overrated, i swear ppl just automatically think any kanye beat is a masterpiece without actually listening to it. also for as much gospel shit as he put on his past 2 albums, kanye writes about christianity with the same passion/creativity as i write about myself on a cover letter. it just doesnt feel genuine at all lol

[@lukejamesbgn]

Big facts on the production & his approach to lyricism.

[@KadonGish-BTM]

You have to agree that the cover for this album and Yeezus were just lazy.

[@lukejamesbgn]

Lazier than a syrup sippin' Snorlax!

[@Inasakie]

Yeezus cover goes hard

[@KadonGish-BTM]

@@Inasakie how can you say that, when the cover is just a blank jewel case.

[@KnucklesWTD]

@@Inasakie it grew on me but it’s still basic tbh lol

[@Inasakie]

It perfectly fits the in your face industrial sound. He said in an interview Yeezus isn’t supposed to sound like an album but a rough unrestrained mixtape, which is mirrored in the album art. I get not liking it but there was thought behind it, so I can’t call it lazy.

[@modernmusicmayhem769]

Completely disagree; this record was amazing imo. But good review nevertheless

[@lukejamesbgn]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!

[@TheRealLeonardWashington]

This is definitely a lower tier Kanye album. Not up there with his Mt Rushmore of albums (College Drop, Late Reg, Grad, and MBDTF). It’s a lot of toilet bowl filler on this one

[@lukejamesbgn]

It's never a good sign when an album feels like a chore for me to listen to!

[@TheRealLeonardWashington]

@@lukejamesbgn it wasn’t hard at all for me to hit that skip button tho. All I know is l looked up and I was on track 20 very fast on that first listen. Not saying that every song is bad but yea. If I never heard this album again in life I wouldn’t miss it

[@CallmeLQ]

Unpopular opinion: Westside Gunn has the most disappointing verse on the album besides Kanye himself.

[@Artizm_Music]

OH MY GOD!!!!! That was the best clapback against DaBaby I have ever heard!!!!

[@lukejamesbgn]

Whenever I laugh for real like that in a video it's because I just came up with it on the spot hahaha!

[@Artizm_Music]

@@lukejamesbgn Also, shoutout to the globglogabgalab sample at the end of Remote Control.

[@Dhindsakarmon]

I appreciate that tanjiro reference 🙏🏽

[@ericnwachukwu]

LMAO that KFC and Taco Bell collab is brutal fam.

[@lukejamesbgn]

Good going in, bad going out! 😂

[@thefm4506]

I honestly haven't been interested in a Kanye West project since Yeezus tbh and Yeezus was a horrible album btw

[@VocabuLarry85]

Not feeling this album

[@cam62cam811]

Ye is a real polarizing yet conflicting person at the same time . Whenever I want to acknowledge the great things he's done, he always has the negatives on his side like a cowboy with his revolver . With that being said, this album has some bangers on here . Pure Souls was an automatice win due to the midas touch Roddy Ricch, Hurricane was solid, Off The Grid (Fivio really stole the show like David Ruffin in The Temptations biopic), Shoulder To Lean On & Jesus Lord Pt. 2 (even though I've heard the live version) . Also, DaBaby did his thing on Jail Pt. 2 (but you didn't hear it from me) .

[@iarethelouhaze]

Globaglobagloba.

[@louisgregoire3927]

Great review, fuck duke 👍

[@Curling_Rack]

lmaoo your filler line

[@lukejamesbgn]

I was gonna compare to the Pokémon Jynx, but they straight up gave us black face minstrel show with that one. 😂

[@TariqAmazin]

🚮

[@luckyigbokwe2811]

Hey James, I have given up on this guy for ages to be honest with you Bro. This new version of him is just a clone now to me. His first couple of albums were decent to good. But ever since then, he just went left with it. And people will be thinking this guy is a genius with his creativity as of late, which baffles me a lot. And he even has ghostwriters as well, which is worse as well. I have still not bothered about giving it a listen at all. Nice review as always brother.

[@dredre1726]

You just said Kanye first few albums were decent too good?

[@thenameisomari]

College Dropout & Late Reg decent to good? Damn

[@JEStheUniversual]

This album is 🗑