Fans of Kanye West spent much of last summer counting down until when he would release Donda, yet no album arrived. Unsurprised, fans considered Donda to be yet another one of West’s projects that may never see the light of the day, and thus moved on. The 10th studio album from West was soon forgotten news as other life events took priority—that is, until Justin LaBoy broke the news on Twitter that not only was Donda finished, it was primed to drop on July 23.
LaBoy went on to share that West had had an album listening party in Las Vegas on the weekend of July 17. Still, fans remained unconvinced until Live Nation announced a listening event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta slated for July 22.
News and rumors about the album have begun to swirl. Will the album talk about his recent divorce from Kim Kardashian? According to those who’ve already listened to it, apparently not. Rather, Donda remains as a piece created to honor West’s late mother, as well as their relationship to God. The album is rumored to use spoken vocal samples of West’s late mother. A new commercial for Beats featuring Olympic-qualified runner Sha’Carri Richardson also features the first snippet of a song produced by Gessafelstein from the album, “No Child Left Behind.”
The snippet of “No Child Left Behind” continues the gospel-inspired trend that anchors many of West’s recent works, including Jesus Is King, as the lyrics reference God and repeat “he’s done miracles on me.” The Beats ad encourages fans to join the album listening party via Apple Music on July 22 as Richardson, the fastest woman in the United States, models Apple’s newest audio tech.
Featured image: Christopher Polk
