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Controversies Trailing Kanye West’s New Album “Donda”

By Michael Bamidele
30 August 2021   |   11:24 am
After much delay interspersed with a series of listening parties, Kanye West's new album "Donda" finally arrived on Sunday 29th of August. The 27-track album, West's tenth album following 2019's "Jesus Is King," features a host of guest verses from Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Pusha-T, The Weeknd, Fivio Foreign, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Baby…
Kanye West

Knaye West in all-black ensemble | Image: BFA/Yeezy

After much delay interspersed with a series of listening parties, Kanye West‘s new album “Donda” finally arrived on Sunday 29th of August.

The 27-track album, West’s tenth album following 2019’s “Jesus Is King,” features a host of guest verses from Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Pusha-T, The Weeknd, Fivio Foreign, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Baby Keem, Young Thug, Vory, Kaycyy, Roddy Ricch, Lil Durk, 070 Shake, Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Jay Electronica, Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Styles P., Larry Hoover, Jr., Jhe Rooga, Pop Smoke, Francis and the Lights, Sunday Service Choir, Don Toliver, and Lil Baby.

However, trailing the newly-released album are also a number of controversies:

The DaBaby and Marilyn Manson feature
Three days before “Donda” was released on streaming platrforms, West held a third listening party at Soldier Field in Chicago, titled “Kanye West Presents: The Donda Album Experience”. True to West, the event was not without drama as it featured a replica of West’s childhood home, and West setting himself on fire, then later remarrying Kim Kardashian.

However, the biggest shocker was when rapper DaBabby and rockstar Marilyn Manson appeared on stage and it was revealed that they were both featured on a song (titled “Jail”) that originally featured Jay-Z.

DaBaby, Kanye West and Marilyn Manson perform during the Kanye West Donda event on August 26, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Brian Prahl/MEGA/GC Images)

This choice of new features did not go down well with many social media users. Fresh on the mind was DaBaby’s performance at the Rolling Loud music festival where he made homophobic and factually inaccurate comments about sexually transmitted diseases while on stage. The rapper has since been dropped from prominent music festivals.

Marilyn Manson was no better choice, the rockstar has been accused and sued by several women of sexual assault and abuse.

Universal Music!
Hours after “Donda” was released, Kanye West said that Universal Music Group, the parent company to the label Def Jam, released his album without his approval.

West in an Instagram post on Sunday wrote: “Universal put my album out without my approval and they blocked Jail 2 from being on the album.”

What did Chris Brown say?
Just hours after Donda was available on streaming platforms, Brown seemingly blasted West, writing, “Kanye a whole h*e,” in a message posted on his Instagram Stories.

Apparently, feeling no regret with his initial post, the Say Goodbye star followed up with the message: “Nah he tweakin.”

While Brown didn’t go into detail about his collaboration on New Again, The Shade Room is reporting that a source close to the situation revealed he was ‘a little heated about the verse being removed’ from the song.

Soulja Boy “tell ’em”
Apparently, Chris Brown is not the only one that felt slighted. Rapper Soulja Boy claims he got left off of the new album after Kanye West had reached out to ask him to be on the album.

Soulja Boy shared screenshots of text messages that he says are between him and West, which showed Ye asking to include the Soulja Boy on Donda and in a new Gap campaign.

In the texts, West calls Soulja a “genius” and tells him he loves him. Soulja responds, “That means a lot coming from you,” and says he’s “down” to work on fashion and music together.

“Idk how to feel, Kanye sent me that song ‘remote control’ and I don’t hear my verse on it… hmm fuck that nigga,” Soulja said in another tweet, in response to a fan who asked what he thinks of Donda.

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