Not since 2018 has Kanye West been such an omnipresence in the news cycle. In those days, it was Ye’s incendiary political sentiments that were dominating column inches. From his controversial tryst with the red cap to the infamous words that he uttered on TMZ, these events left many wondering whether Kanye had finally disassociated from the man that the world once knew. However, it should be noted that with that period of ongoing personal unrest, came a window of extreme productivity on the music side of things. While fending off detractors from all sides, Kanye orchestrated the famed Good Music release slate of that year in which he oversaw albums such as Ye, Pusha T’s Daytona, Teyana Taylor’s K.T.S.E, Nas’-- admittedly patchy– Nasir and his critically acclaimed joint project with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts.
This time around, Kanye’s controversy-courting statements all revolve around the ongoing public fallout from his marriage to Kim Kardashian, More specifically, his contention that not only is Kim Kardashian going against his wishes by having his daughter on social media platforms, but that she is actively placing obstacles in the way of him seeing his children. And just as he did when there was internal and external strife all around him in 2018, this latest spell of high-profile chaos is taking place in conjunction with another major creative undertaking.
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First alluded to shortly after the release of his 2021 opus DONDA, the newly rechristened “Ye” is currently throwing himself into the inception of its sequel. After speculation that there would be little to no time off between projects, the formal announcement came from Steven Victor on January 3rd 2022, with the manager to the stars informing Complex that "Ye has started working on his new masterpiece DONDA 2."
Set to be the first time that Ye has formally released a sequel to an album, the project has quickly become one of the most talked about records of the year. Not least of all because with every new increment of information that is drip-fed to the public, what the finished product will actually sound like becomes more and more obscured.
With all manner of speculation running rampant, it’s time to take a look at everything we know about Ye’s forthcoming record.
DONDA 2 Release Date
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Generally speaking, you never know if a Kanye West album will actually be arriving until it is uploaded to a streaming service. Over the years, records varying from Yandhi to Turbografx 16 have been unceremoniously scrapped. While others, such as Good Ass Job, were reborn in new shapes.
As such, when Kanye sets a release date, they always seem to be arbitrary and could be altered at any time. However, the theoretical underpinning behind the proposed February 22nd, 2022 release date of DONDA 2 would suggest that this one is a little more rigid than most.
Writing on his Instagram story, Ye revealed that “according to the stars, the United States is finally getting a spiritual makeover with its first-ever Pluto Return on Feb. 22, 2022. Astrologically, a Pluto return is when the heavenly body returns to the same position in a birth chart where it was when the chart began.”
Given its forebearer’s intention to commune with his dearly departed mother, this concept is one that is likely to appeal to Ye’s pronounced spirituality. But beyond the ties to the hereafter, the numerology behind the project also has another significance in its links to “Pluto.”
Executive Produced By Future
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In the past few months, Kanye West has been eager to give Future his flowers. After referring to him as “the most influential” artist in terms of the modern sound during his appearance on Drink Champs, Ye then proudly walked out during Future’s Rolling Loud headlining spot and performed a medley of hits for the adoring crowd. As it turns out, this proved to be the foundations of a blossoming friendship between the two and now, the man that Pusha T has dubbed “Yezos” has granted Future the position of executive producer on his latest record. According to sources inside the camp, this partnership is already yielding gold.
“It’s honestly just an honor to be in the presence, and to be able to witness history happening,” said Julia Fox on a recent podcast. “Even being in the studio with him and Future and listening to the new songs which, by the way, are fucking insane. That’s really cool.”
Although the two only have one collaboration to date in the form of 2014’s “I Won”, some believe that the pairing will be match made in heaven in terms of both temperament and sound. Namely, Joe Budden.
“I think this is the most toxic shit in the universe,” he remarked of the pairing during an episode of the JBP. “And for it to be as impactful as the most toxic shit in the universe, it has to be somewhat near real-time. I think this is a counter and a rebuttal. I don’t think his plan was to drop so early. That’s an assumption. That’s speculation from Joe.
“But he can’t hold this too long. I think he’s been looking at what he deems to be a movie and a script, and he’s been trying to reply the best he could, but he’s a musician. So, he’s going to reply in music, and he’s going to get the most toxic of the toxic kings."
The Movie
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On the subject of Budden’s claims that Kanye is viewing everything cinematically, it appears that he actually has plans to create a long-form visual accompaniment to the project. Initially reported by British newspaper The Daily Mail, it has been suggested by sources close to Ye that he has been filming a movie that will be soundtracked by his forthcoming album, and seemingly, it will star none other than his current beau, Julia Fox. Barring a couple of snaps on the set of himself and Fox clad in all black, little is known about the plot or what we can expect. That said, we can say with some certainty that it will no doubt make for interesting viewing.
Grand Designs
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Considering that he’s now ascended to the rank of billionaire, music is no longer something that Ye is doing to keep the lights on. Instead, any project that he creates comes from a place of unbridled passion and aspiration.
Perhaps as a byproduct of this, Kanye is locked into the process and has taken drastic measures to ensure that his focus is not obstructed.
“I don’t have a phone until two, twenty-two, twenty-two,” Ye said in an Instagram video uploaded by Hollywood Unlocked. “My focus is taking my kids to school and finishing the album.”
In line with this unblinking attention to the task at hand, perfectionism has become a key tenet in Kanye’s process. Speaking to Rolling Stone, ATL-based producer Digital Nas spoke of the lengths Ye will go to in order to find the sound he’s envisioned. “With Ye, when you play him music, if he doesn’t move to it, he doesn’t like it. So if he’s not moving, I just go to the next song, and that’s kind of how I’ve been basing my tracklisting.”
Having seemingly given Ye over 150 beats for the original DONDA– 60 of which he is said to have freestyled over– Nas has said that this time, the stakes are even higher. As with the new album, Ye is looking to permanently impact the very cycle of life.
"These are the directives for the album," Digital Nas proclaimed. "If it cannot be played at a funeral, childbirth, graduation, a wedding, it will not be on our record. We learned a lot from DONDA 1. We learned what hit. We learned what was sticking. So we took it from there. It has to be able to be played at four major moments in people’s lives. That’s crazy, right?"
Likely intended to encapsulate both religious and secular occasions, what remains to be seen is whether Ye will once again be abstaining from cursing. Or, as he did on the Hit-Boy-produced “Eazy” with The Game, there will be room for some more of the barbed sentiments and profanity that he sent Pete Davidson’s way.
DONDA 2 Features
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If anything is contributing to both the frenzy which surrounds the record and the broader sense of confusion over what this project could possibly sound like, it’s the prospective list of collaborators that have been brought on board. As is customary with a Ye album, a cavalcade of high-profile names have made their way through his compound in recent weeks. But on this occasion, the list appears to have been randomized like never before.
From bringing a fleet of producers which includes Mike Dean, DJ Premier and DJ Khaled onboard to ushering A$AP Rocky, Blueface, Dreezy, The Game, Post Malone and Robin Pecknold of indie-folk icons Fleet Foxes into his inner sanctum, there are no shortage of exciting and borderline baffling names that are reportedly lending a hand to the record’s conception.
Although some visits have likely went undocumented at Ye’s request, photographer ThirdEyeRaz has been on hand to capture many of the all-star encounters firsthand.
"Bruh I’m w Beanie Sigel, Travis Scott, DaBaby, Ye , Vic Mensa for the DONDA 2 studio sessions," he recently proclaimed on Twitter. "And all I can think about is how grateful I am to be on this journey. Praise be to Allah."
Pulling from all corners of the musical stratosphere, it comes as no surprise that Ye has made some controversial additions to his team. Despite facing a litany of accusations that’d suggest that he was a serial abuser of women, Marilyn Manson is said to be “continuing his creative collaboration with Ye” that began on “Jail Pt 2.”
While Travis Scott has been notably absent from public life in recent months, there is also plenty of documentation of LaFlame’s presence in the studio, and should any of his tracks make Kanye’s scythelike final cut, it will mark his first release since the tragic events at the 2021 Astroworld Festival which claimed the lives of 10 fans and left countless more injured.
Elsewhere, Kanye has also been spotted alongside a bonafide legend in the form of the Geto Boys’ own Scarface.
Although they’ve not worked together for years, Ye had previously provided iconic beats for ‘Face’s 2002 project The Fix in the form of “In Cold Blood” and the Rocafella dynasty-aided “Guess Who’s Back?” as well as overseeing Hov’s “This Can’t Be Life” which featured a stellar verse from the fifth ward native. If Scarface should make an appearance on DONDA 2, it would not only represent a full circle moment for Ye, but would mark the Geto Boy’s first appearance on wax since he hopped on Slim Thug’s “Both Eyes Open” in 2020.
In mid-January, Moneybagg Yo shared a text in which Ye declared that “I gotta lock you in for Donda 2. Bullshit behind us, money in front of us.” More recently, a listening party at Nobu in Malibu featured everyone from Swedish emo-rap pioneer Yung Lean, Baby Keem, and none other than his former nemesis, Drake. At the moment, it is unclear if they were simply well-wishers or collaborators. But if its predecessor is anything to go by, Ye will be creating a rich tapestry of voices and sounds and is looking for contributions from everyone.
"I was in the studio with Ye. He was finishing his verse and then he started asking for some bars, like, “Who got bars?” revealed former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and new president of Donda Sports, Antonio Brown. "I’m like, 'Yo, that’s your job. That ain’t my job to have no bars.'"
Meanwhile, early leaks reveal features with DONDA 1 collaborator Fivio Foreign and singer Alicia Keys-- the two were seen shooting a music video for a single that is presumed to be titled "City of Gods," a title Fivio adopted for a recent IG post caption as well-- while Fivio himself was spotted leaving the studio with both Ye and Pusha T a few weeks back.
Elsewhere, we've seen Kanye actively asking for a feature, with the rapper calling on Jay Electronica to do remix of "Eazy."
There has also been speculation into a possible tracklist, with a photo of a masked Kanye sitting beside a piece of paper with a list of what appears to be song titles having been transcribed by astute fanbases. Nonetheless, knowing Kanye, it's likely this list is in a constant state of flux. Still, some of the titles include "Love Me / 2 Eazy," "Pablo," "City of Gods," "Nebraska, "Worst Mistake" and "Selfish," among others.