Kanye West’s album Donda has officially released on streaming services

After five weeks and a series of successful listening parties, Kanye West has finally released his album on streaming services on Sunday. What’s the gist? West has allegations that Donda’s release was without his approval right after the album release. 

West also claimed that Universal has cut off a song featuring Marilyn Manson and DaBaby from being present on the album. “Universal put my album out without my approval and they blocked Jail 2 from being on the album,” West wrote. The record label hasn’t issued a comment yet. 

The said “blocked” track has contributions from the two controversial rappers Marilyn Manson and Dababy. Their contribution at Donda has sparked stirs from fans and social media users. 

Nearly 100,000,000 streams. #DONDA pic.twitter.com/Pq7vqLttnJ

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) August 30, 2021

The much-awaited 27-track album landed on Apple Music and Spotify three days after the Chicago listening event. A stadium-filled listening party highlighting West’s childhood home and performances by DaBaby and Marilyn Manson. 

Chart-topping artists to feature on the album are The Weekend, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Jay Electronica, Kid Cudi, and Young Thug. At the recent listening party, West replaced some Jay-Z verse on “Jail” with DaBaby’s new verse. 

#KanyeWest's #Donda is streaming up a storm, with almost 100 MILLION first day streams on the #GlobalSpotifyChart, the 2nd biggest album debut of all-time, occupying 6 spots on #SpotifyGlobal and the entire top 10 on #USSpotify with 25 songs in the top 40!💪👑❤️ pic.twitter.com/s3AQ8SzTP4

— World Music Awards (@WORLDMUSICAWARD) August 30, 2021

Notably, the streaming version of Donda restores Jay-Z’s feature on the song “Jail” crediting Marilyn Manson as a co-songwriter. His verse is gone and replaced by Jay-Z’s. 

Donda Reviews

Reviews for Donda earned mixed reactions from critics. According to NME, the album highlights spiritual points and shows insights on mental health struggles.  “Nobody needs all 27 of these tracks, but dig deep into its contents and you’ll find enough gems to make his 10th album worth your time,” said Rhian Daly.

Even if Donda was already on streaming services, West is still working on the album. It wasn’t the finished product yet. Jail pt.2 was just recently added as the 27th track that held clearance issues with DaBaby’s manager. 

#DaBaby’s manager had this to say in regards to DaBaby’s verse not being on the initial release of Kanye’s album #DONDA 👀😳 (IG/ arnoldltaylor) @DaBabyDaBaby pic.twitter.com/RzvK9oKnCZ

— WORLDSTARHIPHOP (@WORLDSTAR) August 29, 2021

Donda album which is almost two hours long has changed over the series of listening events. For instance, the Jay-Z feature on “Jail” and the previously deleted appearance of Kid Cudi and the Lox. The Weekends’s verse is also present where Mike Dean receives credit at some point. Jesus Lord, an eight-minute track was one of the memorable from the listening sessions.

A writer for iNews Kate Solomon stated, “At its best, Donda is brilliant, West’s vocal abilities are as good as they’ve ever been and his vulnerability has never been so pronounced.” “these moments of wonder are dragged down by a mire of intentionally difficult tracks, be that musically or thematically. 

She also added, “It’s a long and frustrating listen, a warning to all about the dangers of focus regrouping and overthinking.”

Donda’s release date was supposedly July 23, then it became August 6. Although there was a delay in mid-August until its official arrival on August 29th. Abou “Bu” Thiam, Kanye’s manager promised on social media that the album’s final release would be after Donda’s third listening event in Chicago.