Donda 2

Kanye West Says ‘Donda 2’ Will Only Be Available On His Stem Player And Not On Streaming Services

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Kanye West has been teasing the release of his eleventh album, Donda 2, for the better part of three weeks. He previously revealed that Future would executive produce it while rumors said Marilyn Manson was working closely with Ye on the project. Additionally, Kanye shockingly announced that Kid Cudi, someone he’s worked closely with for more than a decade, will not appear on the album due to his friendship with Pete Davidson, who is dating Kanye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian. With just four days until the release of Donda 2, Kanye returned with another announcement about the project.

According to Kanye himself, Donda 2 will only be available on the stem player he released last fall and not on streaming services. That means all of you who hoped to enjoy the album on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and more will have to fork over $200 to hear it on Kanye’s stem player. “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes,” Kanye wrote in an Instagram post that revealed the news. “It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own.”

If you’re interested in purchasing the stem player, which is priced at $200, you can head over to its official website to buy it. The device was announced before the arrival of Donda and shipped out to fans two months after the 2021 album was released. It let users control vocals, drums, bass, and samples, isolate certain parts of a song, and add effects. The stem player also supports Bluetooth capabilities and features a headphone jack, volume buttons, speakers, a haptic engine, and 8GB of storage.

You can view Kanye’s announcement in the post above.

What’s Everything We Know About ‘Donda 2’ So Far?

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In less than a week, Kanye West’s eleventh solo album Donda 2 will be available for people to enjoy. That is if Kanye sticks to its previously announced release date of February 22. The project is the follow-up to 2021’s Donda which presented features from Jay-Z, DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, Lil Durk, Vory, Kid Cudi, and many more. As for Donda 2, we’ve yet to receive its official artwork of tracklist, but there are some things we know about the upcoming album.

What’s Everything We Know About ‘Donda 2’ So Far?

As previously mentioned, Donda 2 is set to arrive on February 22. Kanye seemingly explained that he chose that release date because it coincides with a first-ever occurrence in astrology. On February 22, the United States will experience its first Pluto’s Return which is defined as when the “heavenly body returns to the same position in a birth chart where it was when the chart began.” Together with announcing the project’s release date, Kanye also revealed that Future — who has often referred to himself as “Pluto” — will executive produce the album. As for what the project might sound like, producer Digital Nas, who is working with Ye on Donda 2, said that if a song cannot be played at a “funeral, childbirth, graduation, [or] a wedding,” then it will not appear on the album.

Additionally, Marilyn Manson has been rumored to be involved with Donda 2 to an unknown extent. Moneybagg Yo may also lend his voice to the album, but Kid Cudi will not appear on the album due to his friendship with Pete Davidson who is currently dating Kanye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Kanye will also hold a live performance of Donda 2 at Miami’s Loandepot Park Stadium.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West Announces An Event For ‘Donda 2’ At Miami’s LoanDepot Park Stadium

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In just a couple of days, Kanye West will release his eleventh album, Donda 2 — or, given the rapper’s checkered history of missing promised release dates, so we hope. It’s a sequel to his 2021 album, which topped the Billboard 200 and brought forth collaborations with Jay-Z, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti, Lil Durk, and many more. For Donda 2, all we’ve been told is that Future will executive produce the project while Marilyn Manson will reportedly offer contributions. On the flip side, Kid Cudi will not be on the project due to his friendship with Pete Davidson, who’s dating his ex-wife and therefore, to him, persona non grata.

Now, we also know that Kanye will hold an event for the new album. It’s set to take place on February 22 in Miami’s LoanDepot Park Stadium. It will also be an in-person event with tickets for it going on sale Monday at noon. Kanye is most likely taking over the Miami stadium to hold a listening party for Donda 2, something he previously did at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Chicago’s Soldier Field for the first one.

Kanye’s announcement comes after he seemed to reveal that Travis Scott will take the stage with him during his headlining set at Coachella in April. He also demanded an apology from Billie Eilish for allegedly throwing shade at Travis during one of her concerts.

You can view the announcement for the Miami event for Donda 2 above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West Says He Won’t Put Kid Cudi On ‘Donda 2’ And Kid Cudi Called Him A ‘Dinosaur’ In Response

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Kanye West’s eleventh album, Donda 2, is slated to arrive on February 22. It remains to be seen if the album will be released on that day, as the rapper has a chronic history of failing to stick to release dates. We’ve yet to receive an official list of collaborators for the album, but names like Future and Marilyn Manson have come up. One person we won’t hear on Donda 2 is Kid Cudi. The two have worked together numerous times, but according to a recent Instagram post from Kanye, he won’t be putting Cudi on his upcoming album.

In the post, Kanye shared an image of a handwritten note that read, “Just so everyone knows Cudi will not be on Donda because he’s friends with you know who.” He added, “We all speak Billie language now.” While Kanye didn’t specify who “you know who” refers to, many have concluded that it’s Pete Davidson, who’s with Cudi. Additionally, Kanye tagged Kim Kardashian and Michael Che from SNL, which Davidson also appears on, thus making it quite obvious that Kanye was indeed referring to Davidson.

Shortly after the message was shared, Cudi responded to Kanye’s words in the comment section of the post. “Too bad I dont wanna be on ur album u f*ckin dinosaur hahaha,” he wrote with a laughing emoji. “Everyone knows ive been the best thing about ur albums since i met u. Ima pray [for u] brother [peace out emoji].”

People Think That The Newest Woman Seen With Kanye West Looks A Lot Like His Ex Kim Kardashian

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In the midst of Kanye West’s ongoing public spat with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, some fans have begun to notice that one of the new members of his entourage bears a strong resemblance to his ex.

In TMZ’s new report about a listening party Kanye held this week for his new album Donda 2, it notes that not only was the party attended by the usual assortment of Kanye’s associates, including Drake, French Montana, Offset, and Travis Scott but there was also a model, Chaney Jones, dressed almost exactly like Kim Kardashian when she attended the E! People’s Choice Awards in December, with similar black catsuit, gloves, and stiletto boots (although Jones’ only reached her knees, contrasting Kim’s thigh-high pair at the awards).

Meanwhile, actress Julia Fox — who Kanye has reportedly been courting for the past month — was nowhere to be found, despite being lavished with extravagant gifts by the rapper just weeks ago. Incidentally, Fox herself sparked speculation among commenters when she deleted several photos of the couple on Instagram. Fans on Twitter also made note of the resemblance between Kardashian and Jones.

Kanye’s relationship with the original Kim Kardashian has notably deteriorated in the past week, as he appears to be on a crusade to convince the world that she’s been unfair to him. He’s accused her of blocking him from their daughter Chicago’s birthday party, putting a hit out on him, and preventing him from spending time with their kids, all while threatening to beat up her new man, Pete Davidson.

Lil Durk Challenges A Fellow Chicagoan With His ‘7220’ Release Date

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Lil Durk has been hyping the release of his next album, 7220, for a while now, sharing the dates for the album’s spring tour in late January and making himself as visible as possible on tracks like 50 Cent’s “Power Powder Respect,” Cordae’s “Chronicles,” Gucci Mane’s “Rumors,” and 2 Chainz’s “Lost Kings.” And although he hasn’t yet released an official single for the album, he did just reveal its release date — and his strategy for getting fans’ attention focused on it to ensure they stream it as much as possible.

“My album drop same day as YE 2/22/22,” he tweeted, revealing both the release date and subtly challenging his fellow Chicagoan. Although plenty of artists would likely loathe releasing their albums on the same projected day as Kanye’s hotly-anticipated Donda 2, it appears that Lil Durk is so confident in his own project, he doesn’t mind risking getting overshadowed. In fact, the tactic more or less takes a page right out of Kanye’s own playbook. In 2007, Kanye bet on his own album Graduation against the sales juggernaut named 50 Cent and 50’s impending release of Massacre.

Kanye and 50 both got into the spirit of the competition, which held seismic implications for the state of hip-hop at the time. When Kanye outsold 50 after their first weeks were tallied, it signaled a shift away from 50’s dominance (and, by extension, the gangsta rap genre in general) toward Kanye’s (and so-called “alternative rap,” which opened the door for successors such as Drake and J. Cole). While Kanye isn’t likely to repeat this tactic twice, especially standing in 50’s position this time around, a big streaming week for Durk could signal a similar end to Kanye’s own charts dominance in favor of a younger generation of rappers.

We’ll see how it all pans out — or whether Kanye even releases his album on the promised date — on 2/22.

What Are The Features On Kanye West’s ‘Donda 2’?

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For plenty of Kanye West fans, his 2021 album Donda felt like a comeback. Sure, it might not be My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy levels of Yeezus, but it was a start. It felt like Ye was trying again, not wandering around the gospel realm with choirs and Sunday Services in tow. So when word got out that he’s already hard at work on Donda 2, and it will be here in the matter of a few short days, excitement about the project reached a fever pitch. And so naturally, excitement over the release also begged the ever present question when it comes to a Kanye album: Who will he collaborate with? Here’s everything we know so far on that tip.

What Are The Features On Kanye West’s ‘Donda 2’

Luckily, one producer on the new Kanye album has given the media plenty of info on some of the album’s more relevant aspects. So we know that he’s once again working with Nas Digital, who produced “Junya” and “Remote Control,” on Donda part one.
When Kanye announced the album last week, he stated that Future will serve as the executive producer for the album. This creative partnership followed up a surprise New Year’s Eve performance from the pair of rappers, who have rarely worked together in the past.

A recently released collaboration with The Game called “Eazy” takes shots at Pete Davidson, who Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian is reportedly dating. While it’s unclear if this is a Donda 2 track, it seems like The Game and the track’s producer Hit-Boy might be in the mix.

Spotted hanging out at the studio with Kanye in mid-January were The Game (a collaboration we’ve since heard), Moneybagg Yo, Chavo, and his frequent collaborator Mike Dean, so it’s very likely we’ll get a guest verse or something from a few of them. Even weirder? Big Sean, who has continually implied he has beef with Kanye and is no longer signed to GOOD Music was also at the studio hang. Rekindling? We’ll see.

The next day, photos of Kanye, ASAP Rocky, and Pusha T at the studio together surface. I’ll tune in for a song by that trio any day.

A few days ago, Digital also spilled the beans that Marilyn Manson is working very closely with Kanye on the project. “I see Marilyn a lot in the studio,” the producers said. “Like, every day I go to the studio, Marilyn is there working on Donda 2.” Though that particular partnership might upset some fans, at this point, Kanye doesn’t seem to care. After all, doing whatever he wants is basically what he’s best known for at this point.

Marilyn Manson Is Reportedly Working Closely With Kanye West On ‘Donda 2’

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At the upcoming Grammy Awards, Marilyn Manson secured himself a nomination thanks to his work on Kanye West’s album Donda. Ye received backlash for working with Manson in light of allegations of sexual assault and abuse he faces, but it appears that hasn’t deterred West from containing to work with Manson, who is reportedly involved in the making of the upcoming Donda 2.

Digital Nas, a producer who worked on the first Donda album, told Rolling Stone, “I see Marilyn a lot in the studio. Like, every day I go to the studio, Marilyn is there working on Donda 2.” He continued, “[West] doesn’t want Marilyn to play rap beats. 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, [as well as] Marilyn, me, a bunch of producers from Donda 1.”

He also noted that West and Manson have “a crazy dynamic,” saying, “I would have never, ever thought that would happen, but it happened.”

Furthermore, Nas speculated why West decided to work with Manson, saying, “I think it’s moreso that Ye is coming from a standpoint of like, ‘We all make mistakes.’ I think that’s maybe why he had DaBaby and Marilyn at that one show. I’m just assuming it is from a standpoint of like, ‘We’re all sinners. We all make mistakes. We shouldn’t point the finger at someone for the mistakes they’ve made or something like that.’”

Kanye Wants ‘Donda 2’ To Soundtrack ‘Major Moments’ Like Funerals, Childbirth, Graduation Or Weddings

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Now that Kanye is back in a prolific phase, releasing Donda last year and almost immediately announcing a follow-up, he’s got a whole new slew of producers and collaborators in the mix. That’s a good thing, Ye’s taste level in other artists has always been one of his strong suits — except for that whole Marilyn Manson fiasco — and now one of his new producers, Digital Nas, has spoken to Rolling Stone about his time working with Yeezy on Donda 2.

Digital Nas, aka Nasir Pemberton, said he initially traveled from his home in Atlanta to work with Kanye in LA, but ended up moving to the city of angels in the end. “I went out there on a whim, no expectations,” the 23-year-old told Rolling Stone. “Then it turned into me living out there. By the fifth day, my manager gets an email like, ‘Hey, we want Nas out here indefinitely.’ And we’ve been just rocking ever since.”

Not a bad way to kick off your career! As for what fans can hope for from Donda 2, Kanye is planning and hoping to have it soundtrack major moments in his listener’s lives. “These are the directives for the album: ‘If it cannot be played at a funeral, childbirth, graduation, a wedding, it will not be on our record,’” Nas said. “We learned a lot from Donda 1. We learned what hit. We learned what was sticking. So we took from there. It has to be able to be played at four major moments in people’s lives. That’s crazy, right?”

Check out the entire interview here, and keep an eye out for Donda 2, which drops in just a few weeks on February 22.

Kanye West Announces The Palindromic Release Date For ‘Donda 2’

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Not much is known about Kanye West’s upcoming album Donda 2 but at least now we know when it’s allegedly coming out. The mercurial producer/rapper shared the release date with a fiery Instagram post depicting his childhood home going up in flames — a repeated image from the rollout for the original Donda album — with the date “2/22/22.” The palindromic nature of the release is about par for the course for Ye, who I’m honestly surprised didn’t already fall heavily into numerology like Jim Carrey in The Number 23. He also says the album’s executive produced by Future.

Of course, with Kanye, release dates are more like guidelines than actual rules — shout out to The Pirate’s Code. The original Donda blew through three different release dates over the course of the year and a half in which Ye continued to tease it. This was after the chaotic release schedules of his 2018 G.O.O.D Music projects with Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Teyana Taylor, and Nas, which all arrived well after their promised release dates. So, while 2/22/22 makes for a cool-sounding release date, knowing Kanye’s penchant for tinkering, it’s probably best not to get your hopes up. Oddly enough, that’s also the release date for Kanye’s Yeezy collaboration with LA streetwear brand Skid Row Fashion Show, so perhaps he’s timing all these things together in the hopes of increasing exposure all around.

As for what the album will include… well… that’s anyone’s guess. He first teased the album with a text thread from Moneybagg Yo, so the Memphis rapper could feature on the project, and Ye did release the Pete Davidson-threatening “Eazy” this month, but that doesn’t mean either will actually appear on the album. The only thing that remains for sure is Kanye’s appetite for drama, and with this announcement, the latest round of rollout theatre can truly begin.