Introduction
Kanye West has always been one of the most controversial artists in music. Some people love him, and some people hate him, but there’s one thing that everyone can agree on: He knows how to make good music. The man is a genius at creating new sounds, which is why he’s been able to stay relevant for so long. His latest album Donda 2, isn’t any different. As soon as it was released, some fans immediately fell in love with the collection, while others were left scratching their heads, wondering what they had just listened to (and if they would ever listen again).
Some say that Kanye West’s latest album, Donda 2, is one of his best.
Some say that Kanye West’s latest album, Donda 2, is one of his best.
I’m not going to dispute that opinion. The songs are catchy, the lyrics are good (if a little over-the-top), and the production quality is stellar. But I do have some issues with the album as a whole.
First, there’s no way I can keep up with this guy’s constant mental state changes. He goes from “I love you” to “I hate you” in about two seconds flat; it’s exhausting! Second, why does everyone have to be so angry? It seems like everything is about gun violence these days—and I mean, every single song on this record has some reference to guns or shooting someone in it somewhere—but it gets old fast when every song sounds exactly alike: load up on drugs, shoot somebody at random while screaming racial epithets into your microphone while wearing fur coats made out of endangered animals (which also happen during those periods when he doesn’t want anyone else around but himself).
Others claim they’re waiting for the leaked tracks to come out before they make a decision.
But you can’t listen to “Freeee” without hearing Kanye’s voice. That is unless you’ve been listening to the album since it was released on Friday night and planned on continuing to do so until the end because that’s what I’m doing.
That is not all many people are doing; some are waiting for the leaked tracks to come out before deciding whether or not they want to buy an album that hasn’t even been released yet—and might never be officially released at all if Kanye keeps up this trend of streaming his albums first on Tidal (which he does).
Whatever the case, it’s impossible to deny that the man is good at making music.
Whatever the case, it’s impossible to deny that the man is good at making music. He has always been a talented artist in whatever medium he chooses. Whether it be as a rapper (think: College Dropout), producer (see: Yeezus and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), or singer (hello, 808s & Heartbreak), Kanye has consistently shown off his incredible ear for music and pop culture. His songwriting abilities are second to none; he knows what people want to hear and can easily deliver.
While some might disagree with me on this topic, I think that Kanye West is one of the greatest artists of our time—and he was before he released Donda 2 last Friday evening.
Some of his songs are better than others, but no one dares to call anything he creates garbage.
Some may argue that Kanye is not a good artist. Some even go so far as to claim that he is the worst artist in history. These people are wrong, of course. Even his most ardent critics would admit that Kanye has musical talent; it’s just that they don’t like how he uses it.
But if you want an example of what happens when an artist doesn’t use their gifts correctly, look at Lil Pump or XXXTentacion (the latter was murdered earlier this year). These rappers make terrible music—loud and obnoxious with no redeeming qualities—but they’re doing well commercially because their fans are young children who don’t know any better and don’t care about art.
The same can be said for many other “artists” today: Rihanna, Drake, and Cardi B—they all make terrible music but keep getting famous anyway because there’s nothing else to listen to except for more Rihannas and Drakes and Cardis.
This time around, however, Kanye is testing his fans by releasing only one song.
This time around, however, Kanye is testing his fans by releasing only one song. The song is a tribute to Kanye’s mother, Donda West, and an updated version of a previous collaboration with Kid Cudi.
It’s not clear whether or not this will be an album or if it will simply be free downloads from now on. Either way, this shows that artists can still create meaningful work without having a large platform for distribution or promotion—and it’s also further proof that music lovers are hungry for quality content from their favorite artists!
Conclusion
We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but so far, it seems like Kanye West is up to his old tricks again. Maybe he wants us all talking about him, which would be good for his ego and bad for everyone else involved.