Kanye West is one of the most polarizing figures in pop culture history. Whether you like him or not, there is no denying that he has left a huge impact on music for years to come. This leads to the pressure of producing the highest quality music possible to please your fans. This past August, Kanye did that and then some.

Kanye released his long awaited album Donda on Sunday, August 29th. It is his tenth solo album, succeeding the underwhelming Jesus Is King in 2019. Many PLHS students have been waiting for this day to come for weeks, months, and even years. 

Talks of this album started all the way back in 2019, but did not get too far until July of this year. Kanye announced that he will be holding a listening party for the album at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and was set to release it on July 24th. However, the album was then delayed until August 5th, which was then delayed again to August 26th.

“I was starting to think he would never drop it and I was getting nervous that I was waiting for nothing,” senior Isabel Adams said.

Three days after his third listening party that took place at Soldier Field in his hometown of Chicago, Kanye finally released Donda at a little over seven o’clock in the morning. This surprise album drop sent the music world into a frenzy and led to many different views on the project.

“I really like the album,” senior Sam Geck said. “I know a lot of people have mixed opinions but I thought it was really worth the hype.” 

However, the album does have its flaws that cannot go unnoticed for someone of his caliber. 

“The one thing I didn’t like about it was that it didn’t really seem like it was completely finished,” Geck said.

Donda sits at 27 songs and is an hour and 48 minutes long, which is substantially longer than the last three albums Kanye put out. This gives the people a plethora of songs to listen to and call their favorite.

“‘Hurricane’ and ‘Keep My Spirit Alive’ are definitely some of my favorites,” Adams said. “I like the lyrics to those songs and think the beats are really good.”

Donda also features an abundance of guest artists ranging from legends like Jay Z and Kid Cudi, to some of the biggest names in music today like The Weeknd and Travis Scott. These rappers offer their own style to help make the songs sound as special as possible.

“Kid Cudi and Don Tolliver on ‘Moon’ made it feel like you were floating,” Geck said. “I also liked Fivio Foreign on ‘Off The Grid’ because it was unexpected and he gave it his all.”

This album is very personal to Kanye, as it is named after his late mother Donda West, who passed away in 2007. There are multiple heartfelt moments throughout the album where Kanye expresses his gratitude towards her.

“I liked all the tributes he paid to his mom especially on ‘Donda Chant’ where it’s her heartbeat,” Adams said. “I thought it was really cool and unique cause not a lot of artists do that stuff.”

Kanye is one of the many big name rappers to release an album this year with the likes of Drake, Tyler, The Creator, and J. Cole all dropping new albums this year. All these projects are giving people the ability to form their own opinions and decide which album they like the most.

“It’s definitely the best album I listened to this year,” Geck said.

After already establishing himself as one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time, Kanye West was able to add another great album to an ultimate catalog of excellent music.