Donda 2

Donda 2
Demo album by
Kanye West
ReleasedFebruary 23, 2022[a]
RecordedJanuary–February 2022
Studio
GenreHip hop
Length47:22
LabelSelf-released
Producer
Kanye West chronology
Donda
(2021) 		Donda 2
(2022) 		Vultures 1
(2024)
Singles from Donda 2
  1. "Eazy"
    Released: January 16, 2022
  2. "City of Gods"
    Released: February 11, 2022
  3. "True Love"
    Released: May 27, 2022

Donda 2 is a demo album by the American rapper Kanye West. Although unfinished, it was exclusively released on the Stem Player, with four songs made available on February 23, 2022, and additional songs later included in updates, the first of which were added the following day. West began the recording and production of the album in early January 2022, continuing into the next month. It was preceded by the singles "Eazy" and "City of Gods", released in January and February 2022 respectively—both of which peaked within the top 50 of the US Billboard Hot 100.

West held "Kanye West: Donda Experience Performance", an accompanying listening party at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida on February 22, 2022, selling out 47 IMAX theaters across the United States. The event, plagued by numerous technical failures, found audiences paying regard to the album's drastically unfinished state as it were to release the following day.[5] The "V2.22.22 Miami"[6] version of the album was widely panned by music critics, who criticized its subject matter, song structures, and lack of identifiable concept; some were more negative towards West's vocals and lyricism, though a few critics complimented certain elements of the production. Much of West's lyrics on the album are unintelligible. Due to its exclusive Stem Player release, the album was heavily pirated through emulators of the device shared online, leading its circulation on numerous file hosting services. Billboard deemed the album ineligible for its albums charts citing precedented "bundling" rules; the album failed to reach any known record charts of the world either.

Although there was expectation that the album would be updated and completed, the project saw no major updates throughout the remainder of 2022. In light of West's series of allegedly antisemitic statements later that year, the Stem Player's parent company Kano Computing dissociated with West and discontinued the original Stem Player.[7] As a result, the album is only available to those who have purchased the original version of Stem Player, released by Yeezy Tech and Kano. Numerous songs from the album in a further state of completeness have since surfaced online through leaks, while others have been reworked and released by other artists.[8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference new was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Doria, Matt (February 25, 2022). "Kanye West adds 12 more 'Donda 2' songs to Stem Player". NME. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  3. ^ "Donda 2 sessions @ soho warehouse". March 16, 2022 – via Instagram.
  4. ^ "Donda 2 anyone….?". March 8, 2022 – via Instagram.
  5. ^ "Ye Throws Microphone at Donda 2 Listening Event". TMZ.com. February 23, 2022.
  6. ^ "Kanye West: Donda 2". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  7. ^ Peters, Jay (January 9, 2023). "The makers of the Stem Player made a small projector that's Kanye West-free". The Verge. Retrieved January 9, 2023. I asked if Ye was a part of the project at all. Klein told me that Ye was not involved with the projector and that the company's collaboration with the rapper, which included making the Stem Player the exclusive home of Donda 2, has ended.
  8. ^ "Steady Kanye West Leaks Have Turned Into a Flood — Report Claims Surprise Album Could Drop Soon". Billboard. September 2023.


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