Kanye West previewed delayed Donda album, an emotional tribute to his late mother and his family.
Ye is back, and the Chicago rapper has revealed yet another layer of his personal growth with the preview of his album Donda Thursday night at the Mercedez-Benz stadium in Atlanta.
Kanye West was dressed in a red jacket when he appeared two hours late for his stage appearance. Still, fans were not disappointed as they got a preview of the upcoming album, which included a number of surprise features and a look into the emotional homage Kanye paid to his mother after whom the album is named his spirituality as a Christian, and his love for his family including his four children.
At several points of the album, it appears that there was a speech by his mother, Donda West, who passed away in 2007 as she spoke about the inner power of one’s self. The rapper has publicly struggled with the death of his mom, but it appears from one of the songs that he is finally coming to terms with her death, rapping to God that he understood and “it was ok.”
One of the key things that stood out about the preview is the fact that most if not all of the songs on the album feature verses by Ye that honors God and his newfound faith, even at one point, the rapper said, “I know God breathed on this,” in reference to the album.
Donda was previously teased for release two years ago and has undergone name changes as well as several track changes as Kayne West fine-tuned the album, something fans speculated had to do with the right timing based on his religious belief.
Meanwhile, fans went wild after the features were teased with collaborators Jay-Z and Lil Durk revealed in the album preview.
Among the collaborators was Jay-Z, whose verse was reportedly recorded in the afternoon prior to the event, around 4 PM.
Jay-Z’s verse also left fans hopeful that “this might be the return of the Throne,” aka Throne 2 by Kanye and Jay-Z, which the latter’s verse ended with. “Hova and Jeezus, like Moses and Jesus,” Jay-Z raps, much to the excitement of fans.
Watch the Throne is the joint album by the two rappers released in 2011.
The two rappers have been at odds over the years, but it appears that all might be well finally as the two maestros make a comeback as a power rap duo. Jay-Z’s feature appeared on the final track previewed at the event, which was live-streamed on Apple Music.
Lil Durk, who previously said he missed the opportunity to be on the album, was also part of the preview – a welcomed surprise from fans as Durk remains one of the hottest rappers on the music scene right now. Among the other features were verses from Pusha-T, Baby Keem, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Don Toliver, the late Pop Smoke, and others.
The album, which is Kanye’s 10th studio album, is expected to drop at midnight on Friday. The rapper is also expected to be performing at Rolling Loud Miami over the weekend, and it’s expected that his performance may include tracks from his new album.
Meanwhile, Kanye West was supported by the Kardashian family, including his estranged wife Kim and their four children North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, along with other members of the Kardashian family.
It was previously reported that one of the songs on the album dissed Kim as it described him living in their Calabasas home in California, somewhat like a prison. However, none of the songs previewed spoke to his relationship with Kim.
Kanye West, who suffers from bipolar disorder, has had a few manic episodes over the last few years, which caused him to become estranged from his closest friends like Jay-Z and Beyonce and his wife, Kim Kardashian.
There was also a verse in one of the songs which indirectly addressed the Grammys. It’s the first time Kanye has said anything to or about the Grammys since his internet meltdown in which he posted a video of himself urinating on one of his Grammys. In spite of that, Ye ironically still won a Grammy in the 2020 awards.
Still, the tracks on the album were neither lewd nor had expletives but showed a different side to Kanye- something many of his earlier fans likened to the “old Kanye” being back.
The rapper and Kim are presently in the middle of divorce as they work out the arrangements for custody of the children and properties owned by the couple. Both Kim and Kanye are billionaires, and there has been no application for spousal maintenance by Kim.
On the other hand, Kim Kardashian has made moves to rebrand her KKW beauty from Kim Kardashian West to just Kim Kardashian. Her websites are currently being overhauled to reflect the changes as both parties appear to move on with their lives- her with her law school journey and Kanye with his return to music.
