Music Kanye West - Donda

Lay

Correctly predicted Italy to win Euro 2020
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
19,790
Location
England
after a second listen, it’s just a bit shit. Lack of replay value, songs sound the same.
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

I pity the poor fool who stinks like I do!
Joined
Apr 15, 2015
Messages
10,047
Location
Blitztown
A truly garbage album with a couple of decent pop hits on it. Will age horribly and an army of fans will lap it up as a work of genius. Also see : Jake Paul can Box, Joe Rogan is a thought leader, Jordan Peterson is authentic and Tories are noble.

Mass Popularity moves things so far from objective judgment as to create a weird little consumption junction in garbage universe. A million people long human centipede where 5 rows back nobody knows what the first person ate, let alone tasted.

It’s…. Shit. Just say it’s shit. It’s an album. If more than half of it is good, it’s good. If not, it’s not. This is a mess with a few redeeming features. it’s shit. Really really bad.

This is the musical Genius that had a run that went College Dropout - Late Registration / Late Orchestration* - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - 808’s & Heartbreak. He fell off. He makes mostly trash music now.

If someone had creative control and just make him release 6-8 track albums the way he forced Push to do, we’d all be better for it.

The album is shit. Kanye is a busted flush. He’s mentally ill and it’s quite hard to watch right now. I wish Donda has stayed above ground, perhaps he wouldn’t have lost his mind.

* - Spinning Late R into Late O was one of the most underrated things he’s ever done. I stand by that.
 

madzo2007

Full Member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
2,192
Location
Belfast, Ireland
Had a quick flick through all the tracks yesterday and its not great at all - who wants to listen to two 11 minute songs. Not one track hooked me in at all. Come to life isn't bad

I loved Late Registration, its a really top top album. Now he's just gone off the rails
 

Superunknown

Full Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
8,174
I've yet to give it a listen, but it's already annoyed me with the length of it. For me, the beauty of music and of listening to albums is the whole notion of repeated listens. For example, I've already listened to the new Chvrches album close to a dozen times already. With more and more listens, you hear little extras in the songs that you missed first time around, and it never feels like a chore because you know that you can get from the beginning to the end in no time, before you either listen to it again or play something else.

27 songs and close to 2 hours is ridiculous. That sounds more like an ordeal. It throws out the whole idea of repeated listens, which is quite dangerous, since it almost forces you to judge it one playthrough. I imagine many will listen to it once, then just won't be in a hurry to revisit it due to its length. 27 tracks!!
 

sullydnl

Ross Kemp's caf ID
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
34,063
I've yet to give it a listen, but it's already annoyed me with the length of it. For me, the beauty of music and of listening to albums is the whole notion of repeated listens. For example, I've already listened to the new Chvrches album close to a dozen times already. With more and more listens, you hear little extras in the songs that you missed first time around, and it never feels like a chore because you know that you can get from the beginning to the end in no time, before you either listen to it again or play something else.

27 songs and close to 2 hours is ridiculous. That sounds more like an ordeal. It throws out the whole idea of repeated listens, which is quite dangerous, since it almost forces you to judge it one playthrough. I imagine many will listen to it once, then just won't be in a hurry to revisit it due to its length. 27 tracks!!
100%. Absolutely no need for an album to be that long.
 

Dirty Schwein

Has a 'Best of Britney Spears' album
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
31,678
Location
Miracle World
Supports
Luton Town
Why are there so many songs?? :lol:
I'm not sure if this is 100% correct but I had a friend who used to run data on Spotify and said something like:

"Depending on duration, when a listener consumes around 27 tracks from an artist, the artist gets a higher fee, something close to a concert ticket price".

I don't know if this is true but many artists, especially those who are greedy/don't like or can't tour seem to release 27 track albums.

We saw this is August Alsina, who can't tour due to his auto immune condition. We also saw this with the Asian dude from One Direction, who hates touring. Both released 27 track albums...

Can't say for certain but there may be something to it.
 

Shane88

Actually Nostradamus
Joined
Jan 12, 2011
Messages
35,033
Location
Targaryen loyalist
I've yet to give it a listen, but it's already annoyed me with the length of it. For me, the beauty of music and of listening to albums is the whole notion of repeated listens. For example, I've already listened to the new Chvrches album close to a dozen times already. With more and more listens, you hear little extras in the songs that you missed first time around, and it never feels like a chore because you know that you can get from the beginning to the end in no time, before you either listen to it again or play something else.

27 songs and close to 2 hours is ridiculous. That sounds more like an ordeal. It throws out the whole idea of repeated listens, which is quite dangerous, since it almost forces you to judge it one playthrough. I imagine many will listen to it once, then just won't be in a hurry to revisit it due to its length. 27 tracks!!
What the feck?! They have a new album out? How did I miss this? Can't wait to listen to it. This is great!
 

VorZakone

What would Kenny G do?
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
32,623
Well, this redditor was "blown away".

This is the first Kanye album I've listened to in its entirety, and I was completely blown away. I listened to all 27 tracks during a long car ride late last night, and it deeply affected me—the lyricism, the minimalist production, the samples. I was incredibly impressed, moved, and felt like I was levitating the entire time. Jay Electronica's verse on "Jesus Lord"… whew. Legendary.
 

BD

technologically challenged barbie doll
Joined
Sep 1, 2011
Messages
23,052
Reddit is the pits
 

OleBoiii

New Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2019
Messages
6,021
"felt like I was levitating the entire time" :lol:

This is what happens in a society where everyone is encouraged to become media critics. It's like those Marvel fanboys who could find a deeper meaning in Thor taking a massive dump on screen for 2 minutes.
 

Flamingo Purple

The wrong skeptic
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
3,978
Location
Formerly rioferdy.5
Feels more like a Kanye produced album than a Kanye album with the amount of features in it and songs without much of him in. Still I'm enjoying it on second listen. Every one of his albums will be polarising on release but I think this will stand the test of time similarly to way I view TLOP, not an all time great but with some memorable tracks.
 

Desert Eagle

Punjabi Dude
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
16,778
just listened to it. It's not as bad as some are saying. bit too long and some underwhelming tracks but it's a decent album. 3 or 3.5 stars out of 5 probably.
 

Sweet Square

Full Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
23,381
Location
The Zone
Just like how Tarantino is the last director people still care about on mass, Kanye is the last music artist people still get hyped for on a large scale.

I'm guessing it cost millions in production yet it sounds deliberately made in Fruity Loops, the endless featured artists adds nothing of value other than simple name recognition, it's a ''religious'' album where consumerism has replaced God, the running time is pointlessly long due to wanting to get some money from streaming services or because it's the only mildly interesting thing they could do with the album format and the lyrics are about as insightful as an inspirational instagram misquote.

It's expensive but cheap, it goes on for far too long and it's core message is insanely stupid. Which all means it's the perfect album for the current times, a stone wall classic and every reviewer should be giving it 10/10.
 

Lay

Correctly predicted Italy to win Euro 2020
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
19,790
Location
England
Kanye is such a poor rapper too. Even on one of his good verses, he’s playing hide and seek with the beat
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
I listened to Donda in the car on a journey somewhere. I was on spotify, and I thought it was OK but only 2/3 tracks that made me take notice.

Then interestingly once the album finished it started playing some more of his older more known tracks, and yeah - none of the new ones hit like they did.
 

Solius

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Staff
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
86,295
I'm attempting a first listen now. I feel battle weary and I'm on track 5.

The whole schtick is just tiresome now. Album being 'delayed' multiple times and then suddenly coming out on a Sunday before him then claiming it was released without his consent. Just boring. Made up drama from a mentally ill man.
 

Solius

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Staff
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
86,295
I'm attempting a first listen now. I feel battle weary and I'm on track 5.

The whole schtick is just tiresome now. Album being 'delayed' multiple times and then suddenly coming out on a Sunday before him then claiming it was released without his consent. Just boring. Made up drama from a mentally ill man.
It's 11:30pm and I'm still listening ffs :lol:
 

Solius

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Staff
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
86,295
Finished it.

It's not even that bad but it's just so samey and so long. There's so much unnecessary stuff in there.

Even the best songs on it don't really reach any spectacular heights.

My brain needs a rest now.
 

Conor

Full Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
5,452
There is literally no point in entertaining anything he does these days. Just go and listen to one of his good albums any time you even consider trying a new one.
 

Solius

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Staff
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
86,295
There is literally no point in entertaining anything he does these days. Just go and listen to one of his good albums any time you even consider trying a new one.
Seems like he's got hundreds of people enabling him as well.
 

b82REZ

Full Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
9,350
Location
Manchester
It's not as bad as I thought it'd be, but it's well too long, repetitive and pretentious.
 

Bosws87

Full Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
3,709
Jesus Lord
Believe what i say
Off the Grid

I will keep those 3 on my playlist, i really like the beats for Off the Grid and the sample from Lauryn Hill's classic for believe what i say, Jesus Lord is the closest song to the original Kanye so also a decent song.

The rest is trash i'll give them a few more tries but can't imagine me ever listening to them again after.
 

BootsyCollins

Full Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2012
Messages
4,241
Location
Under the roof, above the clouds
Gave this a new listen, this time on full blast on speakers.

The difference from playing this in the car and on airpods was extreme. I actually love it now. The production is amazing and the details in the beats is some of the best Kanye ever produced imo. Still some songs i dont love, but as a whole is a freaking good album.

”Heaven and Hell” is one of the best songs this year for me. That buildup is something else.
 

Shinjch

Full Member
Joined
May 18, 2012
Messages
1,251
Gave it a few listens and think it's a decent piece of work.

Could do without the part 2s and the Pop Smoke interlude, though I know that is more of a tip of the hat than anything else. There are plenty of songs on the album that I will be happy to hear again and again, think they will continue to grow as well.
 

Pickle85

Full Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2021
Messages
6,371
It's sort of what I expected... hugely bloated, Jesusy and takes itself WAY too seriously. Can Kanye also PLEASE feck off with the autotune? It's so annoying. He really needs someone on his staff to say 'no' to him but who's going to say that to a billionaire narcissist with ADHD?! There are still reminders of what a talented producer/beatmaker he is but he's entirely disappeared up his arse. At this point I don't know if he's got another good solo album in him. Ah well, we'll always have My Beautiful Dark Twisted f Fantasy and the other classics.