Kanye Krazy 2 | Quinn Satterlund

Today is Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022, and as of writing this, seven hours from the release of Kanye West’s highly anticipated 12th studio album, Donda 2. Honestly, I’ve been trying my hardest not to be excited for this album, as I am almost certain it will not release, but as the hours tick down, I find it harder and harder not to be jumping for joy. I love Kanye, very, very much, and even if his televised struggles with mental illness and absurd Instagram rants (also, he may be a musical prodigy, but man does he suck at cropping photos – read Kyle Kim’s “Kanye Krazy” for more) make me not like Kanye as a person, he truly is one of a kind.

Almost everything I’ve seen and read these last couple of months has inclined me to believe this could be Ye’s next Yeezus, with Digital Nas, a Kanye protege coming to the same conclusion: “He wants Marilyn to play what he makes, and then Ye will take parts of that and sample parts of that and use parts of that, like he did [generally when making] Yeezus. … He has some producers from Yeezus working on Donda 2 this time around.”

The Marilyn in question, of course, is accused rapist Marilyn Manson, who was featured on Donda and had an appearance at the third listening party. It is my hope that Kanye does not have him featured extensively on Donda, but sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

On the bright side, however, Swedish-rapper Yung Lean was spotted with Ye, leading many to believe he will be featured on the album. This right here is the source of most of my excitement: I am a huge Yung Lean fan (he was 2nd on my Spotify Wrapped) and a collaboration between the two would be simply earth-shattering.

As well as Lean, many other new collaborators may appear on the project, including Moneybagg Yo, Post Malone, indie band Fleet Foxes, A$AP Rocky, Blueface, and football player Antonio Brown, who in the past has dabbled in rap. This eclectic list gives no indication of what Donda 2 will sound like, and I’m all there for it. I am ready for Kanye’s diversion from Christian-inspired music and with the project being executive produced by Future, I know this album will be, for lack of a better word, insane.

Further adding to the eccentrics of the record, the album will only be available on Ye’s Stem Player, meaning no streaming services for possibly quite some time. Although disappointed after hearing this news (I don’t own a Stem Player), I know Soundcloud and Youtube will be my best friends for the next couple of weeks, and I would rather have a Kanye album on Soundcloud only than no Kanye album at all.

I fully expect this album to be Yandhi-d, but if for some incredible reason Kanye actually releases the album somewhat on time (I’m thinking tomorrow morning), then I’ll include my first impressions right here. If he doesn’t drop the album before press time, I’ll include my thoughts on the Listening Party which should take place in about four hours.

My Thoughts: The listening party has just finished, and the songs were pretty solid. Only about 10 of the supposedly 22 tracks were played and I enjoyed most of them, with my only complaints being towards the more bland, generic tracks. It definitely felt unfinished and I won't be surprised if there aren’t a few more listening parties – or if it even drops at all. Also, the performances were terrible, with lots of audio issues and forgotten lyrics on Ye’s part. Luckily, these were mostly on the Donda 1 tracks, so that’s good, I guess. Looking forward to what’s next and hopefully Lean will be there next time.