Now that Kanye West’s Donda is finally released — whether he approved the final version or not — the armchair critics are emerging with their hot takes in hand. Whether it’s to declare the record awful, worship at the altar of Ye, or refuse to engage with the text, a whole spectrum of responses has emerged, as usual, to the latest Yeezy project. But one thoughtful, long-time Kanye fan has a fairly measured response, and ideas for how to make the record better.
On this morning’s episode of The Breakfast Club, DJ Envy noted that he won’t be listening to the album at all because of Ye’s recent flirtation with supporting the MAGA among us, but Charlamagne Tha God came through with some pretty good, honest insight. “Upon first listen, it was lackluster for me,” he said Charlamagne. “I like the joint with Westwide and Kanye, I like ‘Jesus Lord’ with the LOX and Jay Electronica…. I think if he just scaled the project down, to like 12-13 records, it could be a great album.”
The idea of scaling the project down is likely something plenty of people at the label had in mind, too, and would likely do a lot for its reception. The sheer volume is a dealbreaker, as Charlamagne notes: “But it’s an hour and 48 minutes long, so like Kanye West it can be very exhausting,” he said, noting the music itself sounds older, too. “28 songs with all the part twos, an hour and 48 minutes, it’s too long and it drags to me. And the music sounds kinda dated, man.”
So maybe, Kanye, release an edited version to win fans like Charlamagne back? Check out the full discussion above.
