Donda 2

In an interview with Complex on January 3, 2022, Victor Victor Worldwide CEO Steven Victor exclusively told the website that West had begun working on a sequel to his tenth studio album Donda (2021), entitled Donda 2. Victor later told the magazine that it was "coming sooner than you think", explaining: "The procession is starting and it's not stopping." On January 27, 2022, West captioned an Instagram photo of his childhood home in flames with a date of February 22 along with the title Donda 2, also mentioning fellow rapper Future will serve the role of executive producer. Most publications took this as an announcement of the album's release date, Producer BoogzDaBeast revealed that even though hundreds of songs were recorded during the sessions for the first Donda album, the tracks recorded for Donda 2 were all new songs made after the announcement of the Donda 2 listening event. Producer Digital Nas revealed that for Donda 2, West instructed him to make the songs sound "more monk-like" and to "simplify the tracks", and if they are "not able to be played at a funeral, childbirth, graduation, a wedding", then inclusion on the album is not appropriate. In late January 2022, the producer stated that singer Marilyn Manson was recording for Donda 2 daily in the studio. Manson had previously contributed to Donda and for the sequel, Digital Nas opened up that West did not want the singer to "play rap beats", desiring for him "to play what he makes" and then West would work on parts of his work. On February 17, 2022, West announced that Donda 2 will not be available on any commercial streaming services and will be exclusive to his Stem Player audio device, priced at , which was previously released with Donda. He explained that his motive is how artists "get just 12% of the money the industry makes" when their music is available on the platforms, calling for a time for freedom from "this oppressive system". However, West making the album only available on the device led to criticism from his fans. As a result of the rapper's decision, Apple reportedly pulled their $2 million sponsorship deal with him, as they were scheduled to stream the accompanying concert. In a series of Instagram posts, West declared that he had turned down a $100 million deal with the company. The first batch of songs that were played at the Miami listening event on February 22, 2022–which were added to the device on February 24–contained half-mumbled reference tracks and incomplete songs; West continued finishing the album during February. The co-inventor of the Stem Player tweeted that official Donda 2 songs are available and always updated via the device, adding that "anywhere else, you're not getting the vision or the latest versions", insinuating that West planned to update the album as he had done previously with The Life of Pablo and Donda in 2016 and 2021, respectively. ==Music and themes==

Donda 2 is a hip-hop album. The album was described in multiple reviews as seeming unfinished, with Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork viewing it as an "undercooked" album posing as an "ever-changing art piece" that may remain incomplete. West also addresses his family's concerns, disregarding them. He conveys a bitter and self-pitying outlook, seeking the sympathy of others, while showing a lack of both happiness and empathy. ==Songs==

on stage in 2018|West antagonizes American comedian Pete Davidson, who began dating Kardashian during her divorce from West, on the songs "Security" and "Eazy". The album's opening track, "True Love", contains a drum break shared with West's 2010 single "Runaway" that samples "The Basement" by Pete Rock & CL Smooth. "Get Lost" sees West singing a cappella with Auto-Tune heavily applied to his voice, recalling varying memories of his marriage to Kardashian. The rapper references his then-budding relationship with actress Julia Fox on "Flowers" and alludes to both his birthday gift for her and his Valentine's Day present for his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. On West and fellow rapper the Game's collaboration "Eazy", the former disses Davidson, threatening to "beat [his] ass." ==Promotion and release==

(pictured) in 2022. On January 15, 2022, "Eazy" was made available as a Spotify exclusive, one day before it was released as the first single from Donda 2. The song entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 49, alongside peaking at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video for "Eazy" was released on March 3, 2022, featuring West kidnapping a clay-version of Pete Davidson that he goes on to bury. On February 11, "City of Gods" was released as the second single from the album. The song charted at number 46 on the Hot 100, while it reached number 58 on the UK Singles Chart. On May 27, 2022, the song "True Love" was officially released on streaming services. It was also included on XXXTentacion's "Look At Me: The Album". The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its debut at number 22, and on the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B chart at number 5. On March 8, 2022, alongside an update to the Stem Player website that allowed users who had purchased the Stem Player to stream songs from Donda 2 without having to connect their Stem Player devices to their computers (thereby allowing music to be streamed from the site like a traditional music streaming service), the songs "Pablo" and "Security" were made available to stream for all (even those without a Stem Player), likely as additional singles for Donda 2, with these versions having updated mixes. A total of 22 songs were announced via a track list for Donda 2 posted by West to his Instagram account on February 18, 2022. On February 23, four songs, entitled "Security", "Pablo", "Broken Road", and "We Did It Kid", were released to owners of the Stem Player via the player's website. Another 12 songs were added the following day as part of an update labeled "V2.22.22 Miami". However, one of the 12 additional songs released, entitled "Keep It Burning", was removed from the Stem Player website and replaced with a stadium version of "True Love", which was then later replaced with "Eazy". Donda 2 was not eligible to enter any Billboard charts per the rules on releases sold with merchandise, as it was exclusive to the Stem Player service. During his performance at Rolling Loud music festival in July 2022, Digital Nas suggested that a finished version of the album would be released later that year. The mini-documentary Last Week, posted to West's YouTube channel in October 2022, featured updated snippets of the songs "530", "First Time in a Long Time", "Sci-Fi", and "Happy". In January 2023, in light of West's antisemitic remarks, Kano Computing, the manufacturer of the Stem Player, announced that their collaboration with West has ended, and that the Donda Stem Player would be discontinued after they sold through the remaining stock of 5,000 units. At the same time, Kano announced a new variant of the Stem Player developed in collaboration with Ghostface Killah that would not include Donda 2 or any other content from West. Events On February 7, 2022, a private listening party was held for Donda 2 at Nobu Malibu, where Travis Scott and fellow rappers Offset, French Montana, Yung Lean, and Drake, as well as model Kendall Jenner, were in attendance. Six days later, West announced a public concert entitled "Kanye West: Donda Experience Performance" for the album at LoanDepot Park in Miami on February 22. Tickets for the concert were first made available on February 14, 2022, six days before ones for IMAX presentations went on sale. On February 21, 2022, it was announced that the concert would be live-streamed in IMAX theaters across 15 cities in the United States at 9p.m. ET. In response to popular demand, IMAX subsequently expanded the live-stream to 60 theaters across the US for the one-night only event on February 22. Simultaneously with the screening, the event was live-streamed on YouTube and West's Stem Player service. The performance was set to begin at 8p.m. ET, though started nearly 3 hours late at 10:45 p.m. West was joined by numerous guests, such as Marilyn Manson and DaBaby–both of whom appeared at the third listening event for Donda–as well as Fivio Foreign, Keys, and Jack Harlow. Celebrities in attendance included French Montana, Elon Musk, and Diddy. West experienced multiple microphone problems and audio glitches while performing, to which he reacted during a performance of "Jail pt 2" by throwing his microphone on the floor. The rapper later revealed to Sasha A. Berg and Esther Coco Berg that he had been made "to write the word 'performance'" in the event's title, despite intending the event as a work of performance art. His frustration with this reduction of the event's concept led alongside other reactions to him throwing the microphone he was given, saying he began questioning why he was performing. Throughout April 2025, record producer Digital Nas began streaming, first on Twitch and posteriorly on Kick, alongside West, working on the rapper's unreleased album In a Perfect World and reworking Donda 2. Various personalities were featured on these streams, including rapper and singer Dave Blunts, Rumble live-streamer Sneako and far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes. The album was published to Spotify and YouTube Music on April 29, 2025, with the album appearing on other platforms within the coming hours. == Lawsuits ==

On June 29, 2022, West was sued by Ultra International Music Publishing over unauthorized samples of the song "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson on the track "Flowers". In a motion filed at the Southern District of New York, Ultra International Music Publishing claimed that, "During discussions with representatives for Mr. Jefferson and UIMP, West and his representatives acknowledged that 'Move Your Body' was sampled in 'Flowers,' and was done so without authorization or payment to UIMP or Marshall Jefferson. Despite this acknowledgement, West has not ceased distribution of 'Flowers.'" In a comment provided to Music Business Worldwide, Jefferson stated "I've been sampled thousands of times. For that reason I've never and will never sample another artist, because I know the feelings involved." Despite this, the 2025 re-release of Donda 2 added the sampled portions of "Move Your Body" back to the song, which were later removed in 2026. On April 30, 2025, West was threatened with legal action by former manager DeAndre "Free" Maiden, who represented Donda 2 producers BoogzDaBeast and Brian "AllDay" Miller, under accusations that West had failed to compensate them for both released and unreleased work. West responded by claiming that Maiden was trying to "extort" him with a $3 million settlement for "beats from people I showed how to make beats to," and was attempting to remove Donda 2 from streaming. In a response, Maiden stated "I've purposely kept our dispute quiet, I believe in keeping family business family business." He ended his statement with "This man has been stealing for years, but I always protected him. I've saved Ye nine figures in attempted lawsuits alone in the past. Gloves off now." West has since attempted to reconcile with the producers, posting to Twitter, "Really wanna work with Brian and Boogz again. Really wanna work this out." ==Critical reception==

The "V2.22.22 Miami" version of Donda 2 received mixed reviews from critics. The Daily Telegraph critic Neil McCormick regarded Donda 2 as the weakest album of West's career, seeing West assume a "sullen, self-pitying and bitter" persona—"vindictive sniping and whiney self-pity". McCormick criticized the album's song structures and repetitive rhymes, as well as the auto-tuned vocals, even though he liked some of the accompanying beats. Few reviews were marginally favorable. Alexandra Pauly of Highsnobiety wrote lukewarm comments, describing the album as a divorce record that "boasts all the hallmarks" of an artist experiencing "post-nuptial proceedings". Pauly was dissatisfied with how Donda 2 lacks the sincerity exuded by other divorce albums, saying it "reeks of [the] ego" that appeals to West's fan base. Ritchie of HipHopDX opined that West's hyper-focus on his current drama has resulted in Donda 2, "a double-edged sword"—musically cohesive but with underdeveloped ideas. Reviewing the 2025 release, Paul Attard of Slant Magazine wrote that while West's talent was sometimes evident, "Happy" was the "one truly great song... play[ing] like a bad-decision anthem for the ages". He found Donda 2 still largely the same as the Stem Player release and said the new songs did not substantially change the album. == Commercial performance ==

Donda 2 was not eligible for entry on the Billboard charts, such as the Billboard 200, since "it is not available apart from the purchase of one of [West's] $200-plus Stem Player devices." Billboard asserted on March 4, 2022, that attaching a new album to a physical device counts as "bundling"—a practice the organization deemed invalid in 2020 and implemented a rule to disregard such tactics from being counted as record sales. West celebrated the album's expulsion from the charts via his Instagram account, writing "Big win for the kid. We can no longer be counted or judged. We make my own systems. We set our own value aaaand [sic] yesterday's price is not today's price baaaaabeeeee [sic] !!!!!". Stem Player sales within the first 24 hours of the album's release have been estimated at 11,000 units, which would place the album's gross revenue at $2.2 million. West claimed that the total revenue for the album within the first 24 hours amounted to $1.3 million. Variety journalist Chris Willman reported that West has sold 39,500 Stem Players as of February 18, 2022, according to the rapper's claims. Willman noted that the player has been available since October 2021. Following the album's release on streaming services on April 30, 2025, it disappointed commercially. In the United States, it sold 6,100 album-equivalent units, becoming West's lowest selling first week. It is reported that had it had a full week of tracking, it would've sold 21,000 units in its first week. Due to its low first week sales, the album failed to enter the Billboard 200 charts, though it did debut at number 39 on the Top Current Album Sales chart, and at number 30 on the Independent Albums chart. In Europe, the album charted in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 19 on the Official Album Downloads chart, Switzerland, peaking at number 72, and Belgium, peaking at number 193. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies a co-producer. • signifies an additional producer. • Track titles are stylized in all caps on the streaming release. • "Selfish" and "Eazy" are missing from the streaming release. • Many tracks were either retitled or initially retitled in the streaming release: • "Flowers" has been retitled to "Keep the Flowers". • "We Did It Kid" has been retitled to "We Did It". • "Sci-Fi" has been retitled to "Scifi". • "City of Gods" has been retitled to "City of God". Uncredited features • "True Love" and "Selfish" feature vocals by XXXTentacion. • "Broken Road" and "City of Chi" feature vocals by Don Toliver. • "We Did It Kid" features vocals by Baby Keem and Migos. • "Pablo" features vocals by Future and Travis Scott. It also features additional vocals by Marilyn Manson on the streaming release. • "Louie Bags" features vocals by Jack Harlow. • "Happy" features vocals by Future. • "Sci-Fi" and "Burn Everything" feature vocals by Sean Leon. • "Lord Lift Me Up" features vocals by Vory. • "City of Gods" features vocals by Alicia Keys and Fivio Foreign, with additional vocals by Playboi Carti. • "First Time in a Long Time" features vocals by Soulja Boy. • "Eazy" features vocals by the Game. Sample credits The streaming release originally featured an excerpt of a monologue by DJ Akademiks, which was removed on the June 6 update. • "Sci-Fi" features an excerpt of a monologue by Kim Kardashian from Saturday Night Live. • "Louie Bags" features an excerpt of a telephone call made by Kamala Harris (We did it, Joe!). • "Lord Lift Me Up" contains samples of "Just Out of My Reach", written by Jesse J. Lewis and Sam Dees, as performed by Dees. • "Eazy" contains samples of "Eazy-Duz-It", as performed by Eazy-E. ==Charts==