For several weeks, the world wide web crazed over Kanye West’s new album, Donda. The renowned rapper has not released an album in three years, and it’s safe to say that this release was an interesting one. 

Kanye was originally supposed to release Donda on July 24th, 2021, but for unknown reasons, the album was not released until August 29, 2021. The night of the 24th left Kanye fans bewildered as they avidly refreshed their Spotify and Apple music pages in hopes to see the album. Both Kanye and his publicists, however, did not address why the album wasn’t released; his team practically went silent. Fans waited and waited, and soon after, word came out that Kanye had been temporarily living in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Chicago, working on his album. 

Soon after, Kanye had a release party on August 26th at the stadium and released the album on the 29th. Kanye filled the stage with bright lights and ominous props, and at one point he was floating over the stadium. He clearly had spent a great deal of time perfecting this album, but not everyone was impressed. Some people on the internet made wild rumors that he was “cursing” Chicago and that citizens needed to spiritually cleanse themselves. 

The album wasn’t to bring Chicago doom, like people thought. The album was devoted to commemorating the legacy of Kanye’s mother, Donda, hence the album name. She passed away on November 10th, 2007. Even though it has been quite some time since she passed, Kanye has been and still continues to be greatly affected by the loss of his mother, so constructing this album has been a very emotional process for him. The first song, in fact, is a track of a woman saying “Donda” repeatedly in different tones. There are many speculations surrounding this track, including that it is supposed to resemble Kanye’s journey of grief or  Donda’s very last heartbeats. Some listeners criticized Kanye for this first song, making comments like “I waited so long for this album and the first thing we get is Donda… Donda… Donda.” Many fans, though, were quick to defend Kanye as a sign of respect for his grieving. 

Aside from the criticism that Donda faced, the album is statistically a hit. It broke the 2021 record for the most streamed album and artist in a day, as it surpassed 200 million streams in two days. It is also currently the most popular album in the world right now and has held that position for one week. 

Fans hope that Kanye has found closure with the release of Donda and wish him the best of luck as Donda rests in peace.