Kanye West is expected to deliver his highly delayed Donda album at the magical hour of 12 a.m. EST on Friday (July 23), which will be a welcomed surprise considering so many of his album rollouts have ended in disappointment.
Prior to the project’s grand unveiling, Kanye held a listening event at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday night (July 22), which was supposed to kick off at 8 p.m. ET but par for the course, it got rolling nearly two hours late.
However, the wait was presumably worth it. As Kanye blazed through the album wearing a full-faced mask and red jacket against a ghost white backdrop, a familiar voice suddenly came over the speakers and it was immediately recognizable as the one and only JAY-Z.
Of course, Kanye and Hov have collaborated numerous times, most notably on 2011’s Watch The Throne, but their relationship had been strained over the years. Many of their fans thought it was the end of an era but are now over the moon the dynamic duo is back.
JAY-Z’s longtime engineer Young Guru confirmed Hov had come through to do the verse in the clutch, tweeting, “HOV did the verse today!!!! At 4pm.”
Kanye launched the Donda campaign earlier this week, when he announced the listening event alongside an Apple ad featuring a snippet of a new track called “No Child Left Behind” featuring Olympic hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson. (The spot debuted during Game 6 of the NBA Finals.)
The eccentric artist had originally scheduled Donda (previously titled Donda: With Child) for release in July 2020, soon after releasing “Wash Us In The Blood” with Travis Scott.
Kanye West Confirms 'Donda' Release Date With 1st Album Teaser 'No Child Left Behind'
But that announcement appeared to overshadow another Kanye album allegedly called God’s Country, but neither of them came to fruition. Instead, Kanye dropped “Nah Nah Nah” and the “Nah Nah Nah (Remix)” before embarking on his failed presidential campaign. The brief run wound up partially contributing to his divorce from Kim Kardashian.
Donda is the follow-up to 2019’s Jesus Is King and marks his 11th official studio album. Now if the project arrives on time, maybe miracles really do come true.
Check out some of the reactions below.
Why didn’t y’all post the Lupe and Royce diss tracks? Had to find out they were beefing through Reddit smh
when it comes to hip hop this site ain’t going to give real hip hop news.
this is for rap music and rap gossip. it leans more to southern rap music and not much else.
that’s why there ain’t a lloyd banks, skyzoo, conway or styles p new album reviews on here.
yeah I had no idea about the royce diss until I came across it elsewhere
Real talk
Because not too many people give a shit about lupe “always gotta be different” and Royce da 5 whatever…it’s 2021 not 2008 those dudes are washed up. Good lyrics but people stopped caring trust me If they both dropped an album most of the world wouldn’t care
Maybe bc it’s not a real beef. They were just playing around.
F what everybody else is talking about YEEZY SEASON IS HERE!!!
It’s the 23rd and Yeezy Season has changed do to the climate.
The last 2 Kanye albums that were supposed to be released, did not come out when he said they would.
fans go crazy…. more like crickets ain’t nobody checking for this guy nomore, next
You’re here commenting, nerd. It actually was the most searched for title/artist since midnight hit. We’ll just all play along with your alternate version of reality.
You either work for them or you’re a butthurt stan.
they must have knew they could work the crowd like that. as for myself, the next jay-z please.
I haven’t even heard album yet but I have a feeling it’s going to be a return to Kanye form again. Who cares if he’s crazy, most rappers do weird shit all the time if not then they are prob boring. I’ll buy into the hype and say it will be his best album since Life of Pablo
It’s auto tune mumble rap from a schitzo and a cheater.
Watch the Throne was an overhyped album with mediocre beats and wack lyrics. If anybody wants that back must have no taste.
You probably jerk off to Lil Yachty and think 6ix9ine is a god
Kanye garbage tho ?
Nah. Your mom’s pussy is though. You slid out of it, so I guess it doubles as an anus. Smiley faced emoji.
It is not a good sign if Ye is working on it still on release day. It means he does not like it. Just give us the music, Ye. Stop with the circus.
2 has been clowns performing for a circus full of losers. I wouldn’t p1ss on either of them if they were on fire.
Wow “Hurricane.” You wouldn’t piss on dudes? A little closeted? Also, you wouldn’t this or that yet you’re here commenting. LOL. The has been your referring to will debut at number 1 on Billboard. You know, the same has been that sells out every article of clothing he puts out on his brand that’s worth 2 billion. Where do you loser trolls craw out of?
Good thing you’d never be anywhere near either one of them you clown ??♂️
I just thought about this last week
And it happened
I did the same thing with surprise albums
It’s trippy
Oh I think I really knew like when I knew I’d win money … Idk
I was saying that Jay z didn’t like Memphis bleek and then he gave him chain
Wrong shit my bad
Is said It’s hiphop history and I know it’s gonna happen it’s stupid if not
I dreamt the future to doe .. so
Did it drop? Guess not cus I can’t see the full album anywhere.
The song is straight garbage, no drums, gives a clue that kanye about to drop another crappy album
Jayz is a disgrace to his family, his people and his race. Hes looking to redeem himself. Kanye has completely destroyed his life. Hes a joke. This album is a desperate attempt from two miserable people.
I’m excited! When Hov and Ye collab it’s always magic! I’m happy that they worked through whatever bad blood was between them. I can’t wait to see Ye post Kim K. He seems to be in a better place these days
glad to hear the gods still building. everybody can’t be everybody local partner and best friend all the time but that doesn’t mean it’s beef and as hov would say it’s enough out here for all of us together right now -lets get it
It might be album of the summer, hard to tell if Drake will live up to hype. After Views, I was like just stop lmao stop Drake needs Weezy like Kanye needs Hov