Kanye West’s album came in at No. 7 on Time’s best albums of 2021 as the publication rounded out the top 10 albums for the year. The project is particularly significant due to the contributions of reggae/dancehall stars Shenseea and Buju Banton.
According to Time, Donda ought not to be overshadowed despite the controversial year Kanye has had from his meltdowns from last year into 2021 and his public divorce from wife Kim Kardashian.
Time magazine recognizes the album for not only its publicized listening parties but the changing moods inspired by Ye walking with his faith and also dealing with the loss of his mother, whom the album honors with her name.
The album also addresses the impending divorce with Kim and his desire for his family to remain a single unit.
The album featured 27 tracks, among which upcoming international artist Shenseea has two features on the album while reggae legend Buju Banton features one song.
The songs Shenseea is featured on are song 21, “Pure Souls,” and track 25, “Ok Ok pt. 2”.
The album has been nominated for a Grammy award for the upcoming 64th Grammy awards. Kanye West reportedly snatched up Shenseea for the two songs after hearing her fire freestyle on Hot 97 earlier in the year. The Jamaica deejay has been touring for the earlier part of the year, making several appearances abroad, particularly at Rolling Loud Miami. Her press stops eventually paid off, as evidenced by her appearance not once but twice on Donda while Kanye has used several artistes and even cut them from the album at the last minute.
Shenseea’s yearend has been relatively quiet. However, as the singer shared with fans, she was exhausted and dealing with a rare blood disorder that led to her brief hospitalization.
Despite that, the singer is back in the studio and recently released a new song, “You’re the one I Love,” produced by Rvssian. Fans have been gobbling up the song, which racked up 1 million views in four days.
Among the other releases for the year was the singer’s “Run Run,” which was short-lived but still cinematographically excellent.
Buju Banton featured on track 10 of the album on “Believe what I say,” which is on a Lauren Hill (Doo Wop) sample beat. Buju Banton and Kanye West recorded the song after Kanye visited Buju at Gargamel Studios in Kingston, Jamaica.
As for Buju Banton, the singer might be doing well streaming-wise, but his image took a severe beating due to his repeated conspiracy theories on Instagram.
His posts have been continually flagged and deleted for spreading misinformation on the Covid-19 pandemic.
