Following the long-awaited release of Donda in 2021, Kanye West — who now goes simply by Ye — has gotten to work on the follow-up, titled Donda 2.
In an exclusive interview with Complex, COO of Ye’s G.O.O.D. Music record label confirmed the rapper already had the next album in his sights saying, “Ye has started working on his new masterpiece, Donda 2.”
When released (and assuming it goes ahead) the album will mark West’s 11th studio record and the first time he has produced a sequel to one of his works.
However, before we all start planning our next Ye listening party, we should take a beat and remember how notoriously flaky the artist can be when it comes to releasing music.
As Variety aptly said, Ye “is known for being meticulous in his craft, unafraid to punt release dates to continue reworking his music and leave behind creative projects in favour of more promising ones.”
In 2020 Donda had a surprise release in August 2021 after a series of high-profile public listening events and last-minute delays.
The rapper had teased some details about the upcoming record named for his late mother— during a Beats By Dre commercial featuring U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, in which viewers were told to live stream Kanye’s Donda listening event on Apple Music Thursday, July 22.
The listening party happened. The album did not.
The eccentric performer then began living at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta while he put the finishing touches on the album which finally came out on August 29.
The album almost immediately set a new record by reaching the top spot on Apple Music’s top albums chart in 152 countries in 24 hours. In its first full day of release, Donda, which features appearances from Playboi Carti, Fivio Foreign, Lil Durk, Ty Dolla Sign, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, Lil Yachty, Jay-Z, Lil Baby and The Weeknd, was streamed over 60 million times in the United States.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, West’s track ‘Hurricane’ which references his split from ex-wife Kim Kardashian, grabbed the most attention and racked up 27.6 million streams in its first five days of release.
West is nominated for five Grammys at the 2022 ceremony, including a chance to win the coveted Album of the Year nod and Best Rap Album prize.
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