From The Underbelly - What To (Hopefully) Expect From DONDA: WITH CHILD
By Carter Fife
It has been about a month since Kanye West announced (and didn’t release) his potential upcoming record DONDA, or as it was later called, DONDA: WITH CHILD. This album will be his tenth solo studio project, and if it hits streaming services soon, it will have been released less than a year since his last record Jesus Is King, which received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike.
Though the past few years have seen a relatively secretive Kanye West rarely communicating with fans outside of interviews and Twitter rants, the past summer has seen the Chicago rapper more active on twitter showcasing everything from shoe designs, blueprints for his YEEZY domes, cool chairs, and even getting Chick-Fil-A with Steve Harvey. Announced at the end of July on his Twitter, Kanye West let fans in on his recent creative ventures - an album and a movie titled DONDA: WITH CHILD, as well as repeatedly changing the tracklist in cryptic and vowel-absent pictures. As many Kanye West fans could probably tell you, the chance of this record being released seems like kind of a toss-up, as West is no stranger to announcing projects that never seem to materialize, but given his recent leaks and studio presence, we’re hoping DWC’s release is on the way.
If you subscribe to the idea that Kanye West is working on his tenth record and that it is indeed coming soon, the next question is obvious: What can we expect, and am I ready to be hurt again? The answer sadly is not as apparent, as West’s demos and musical efforts these days can be as mercurial as the man himself. Many fans are convinced that Kanye West’s “2020 Vision” presidential run is nothing short of a way to gain press for the record, while others speculate that it is the other way around. While it is true that West has voiced his passion for being president in the past, the timing of his publicity and political efforts, combined with his lack of both policy and reasons for running besides not liking Joe Biden (which sadly, same here), makes me skeptical that WEST 2020 is anything more than a publicity stunt. An annoying one to be sure, but it certainly did make a big impact musically, with artists like 2 Chainz tweeting his support for his label-mate. But all this stands as merely theoretical ideas circling the big picture: What can we reasonably expect from this DONDA: WITH CHILD?
As it stands there are around half a dozen leaked demos or reference tracks that have seemingly emerged from the DONDA era. There are also two tracks that Kanye himself released - “DONDA” (marked as DND on the twitter tracklist) and “Wash Us In The Blood” featuring Travis Scott. The former features West’s mother reciting KRS-1 lyrics over a classic soul-sample beat with a short verse from West at the end, and the latter is a more intense banger that sounds like a drum kit and Yeezus had a child together. Both are miles ahead of what was given to fans in 2019’s Jesus Is King, and the demos additionally give a reason for fans to be hopeful. While they are unfinished, cuts like the track “By Your Side” are ambient, melodic, and transcendent in a way that makes me anxious to have the album released. The recently leaked “Future Sounds” featuring Travis Scott and Victory Boyd makes use of the same TNGHT sample from West’s 2013 hit “Blood On The Leaves”, and with an infectious and dramatically grand-scale melody, it is hard not to get too hyped up for this record. The track almost sounds like a synthesis of every era of Kanye from 2010 to 2016, so hopefully, it makes the final cut of the record. The tracklist from Ye’s twitter also includes tracks like “Alien” (also known as “SpaceX”), “Hurricane”, and the hotly-anticipated “New Body”, all of which were cut from the scrapped project YANDHI which I will never stop begging Kanye for. “Alien” is an interesting addition considering it is notorious for having so many versions - some include Ant Clemons or Young Thug, others include Migos, and one is even a longer version with only Kid Cudi on it. Though my excitement for “New Body” has waned since the release of the religion-appropriate clean version sans Nicki Minaj, “Hurricane” is a track that I have been anxiously awaiting since it’s teasing in Fall 2018 and inevitable leak in Summer 2019.
But who can we expect to be involved with the album? Not much is known about the record’s guests yet, but both Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin have been working recently with Kanye, with Rubin actually being spotted at Kanye’s ranch in Cody, Wyoming. Galaxy-brained sleuthing fans also have been speculating about a Lil Baby feature after Kanye tweeted support for the rapper, and a private jet was chartered from Atlanta to Wyoming shortly thereafter. Snoop Dogg was also seen in the studio with Dre and Kanye, though that session was likely related to Ye’s “upcoming” release Jesus Is King II, produced by Dr. Dre. Whether or not that project will ever come to fruition and see the light of day is truly a mystery, though a leaked track, “Up From The Ashes”, certainly shows promise as it displays a more cohesive blend of hip-hop percussion, powerful vocal performances and choral arrangements than West’s 2019 effort. Scrapped or not, the track certainly shows great promise for DONDA: WITH CHILD, though it is hard to bye certain judging off of leaked tracks that are mostly unfinished.
I know what you may be thinking and yes, there is a high chance the album will probably not come out, and this will be yet another project that turns to a pipe dream for us Kanye fans to speculate about. With that being said. new tracks and snippets from Kanye West’s camp are leaked every week so it will be interesting to see how the record evolves, and hopefully we will see the release of a new project soon from Yeezy himself. Though I respect the album-making process as one that cannot be rushed, this is me crossing my fingers that DONDA: WITH CHILD sees release by the end of 2020.
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