Praise God: Donda is Here

Drake just dropped Certified Lover Boy, but it didn't feel right to leave y'all hanging on our last Donda update -- we'll get to Drake next week. Now? Kanye West. Again.

If you've been living without an internet connection for the past week, Kanye has been trending for better and for worse. After two days of silence post-listening party, Kanye gifted us his tenth LP on Sunday morning. No one expected it, and the longest, most painful rollout finally came to a close.

But, wow, does July 26th seems like three years ago. If you're just now joining this conversation, Kanye West promised fans his tenth album, Donda, a whole month ago. You can catch up on all of that good stuff that would promise to be a truly unforgettable album rollout here, but just since we published that article a lot has happened. Let's recap:

A week before the listening party, Drake joined Trippie Redd on the latter's song, "Betrayal" and threw some jabs at Kanye after rumors Certified was delayed because of Donda's tumultuous rollout. The song is awful but you can hear it above, just don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyway, the two lines at the end of Drake's verse prompted Kanye to send this:

And threw everyone into a tizzy, besides Drake, who laughed it off on Twitter. We can only speculate who else is in the group chat, besides Pusha T. Here's what the writers here at channel.WAV had to say about this nonsense:

Aaron Botts: I'm team Kanye -- should the channel support Yeezy as well?

Brandon Slone: Say what you will about Kanye, but to my knowledge he doesn't text children.

AB: He never peed on anyone either, he just likes fishsticks.

Dane Ritter: Did Drake pee on someone?

AB: Drake might for the street cred.

BS: Kanye peeing on someone is well within the realm of reason. I think when a person has reached a certain threshold of fame, you can just assume that they've done pretty much any sexual act you can think of.

The difference between the two is Kanye would own it, and Drake would cry because he promised his mom he'd wait until marriage.

AB: And Kanye would hold a press conference.

On Monday, August 23rd, work began at Soldier Field, with insiders promising a recreation of West's childhood home. Although being known for his ambitious set productions on tour, building (or rebuilding) a house in the middle of a football field was new to those familiar with West.

Kanye later posted Drake's address on Instagram, then deleted the post. Lol.

Tuesday, August 24th, saw Kanye West file to legally change his name to "Ye" -- those close to Kany-- I MEAN YE -- claimed it was an attempt to prove himself as a new man.

On Thursday, August 26th, Kanye was late yet again to his listening party. The event started around 11:50 EST, 10:50 Chicago time. 

It was a sight to see, if nothing else: Kanye walked onto the porch, tailed by rapist Marilyn Manson and homophobe DaBaby. It's a move I still don't understand and will never defend so long as I breathe. Imagine tainting the name of your mother to prove a point about non-existent cancel culture.

At the end of the party, Kanye sat in the middle of the house and lit himself on fire. Then, immediately after being doused by three fire-extinguishers, walked off stage to meet his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, who was wearing a wedding gown. 

The album did not drop on Friday, August 27th. To be fair to Kanye and his team, it was not promised on Friday, just sometime after the listening event. Later that day, Kanye's manager confirmed that the masters had been submitted to digital streaming platforms and would be available shortly.

On Saturday, with still no album in sight, rumors that the album had been rescinded and scrapped began to surface. Kanye was silent.

Finally, at 8:00 AM EST on Sunday August, 28th, the Lord's day, Kanye gave his fans the long-awaited Donda. At 27 songs, the album runs 1 hour and 48 minutes long, including four "Part 2" songs, which basically amount to a deluxe version of the album.

Earlier that morning, reports that DaBaby's manager was holding back his verse surfaced, and this was the reason for the album's delay. But seriously, what's a couple more hours?

So the album is here. Is it good? Let's ask the other channel.WAV writers:

BS: AN HOUR AND FORTY-EIGHT MINUTES?????

DaBaby and his stupid name can fuck right off.

AB: Like an Easter sermon? Because it's long as hell and technically a resurrected album?

DR: I don't think he wanted to cut much, but there are a few songs missing from earlier parties.

BS: "I'll cut exactly one song."

DR: But dear God, don't touch DaBaby's verse.

In all seriousness, and despite the overwhelming appearance of features on the album, Donda is poised to be Kanye's most influential and positive album since Yeezus. It's vulnerable and raw, speaking truth to grief and reconciliation with the self. "Come to Life" is Kanye at his best -- floating over a rising synth as he waxes honestly about his estranged wife and children.

Some notable songs were left off based off of early listening parties, leaks, insiders, and Kanye's team. In fact, some have promised more music is on the way... so we'll hear it in another year and a half.

Regardless, he's been breaking monumental records with this new album -- we can only expect Donda to give Certified Lover Boy a good run for it's first-week-sales money. Here are our wild, off the cuff guesses for first week sales:

DR: I bet it does 300k first week.

AB: 500k but we should count those $200 t-shirts on his website.

BS: I bet it tops 500k at 27 songs for $9.99.

Come back soon for the final verdict!

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Was Donda worth the wait or did you completely miss the news? Donda who? Sound off below in the comment section or holler at us on Twitter!

- Ritter