Upon its release the morning of August 29, Kanye’s 10th studio album “Donda” dominated in the charts with over 350,000 streams within just the first week, breaking weekly records for the year.

     “Donda,” an album dedicated to Kanye’s late mother, was released following numerous delays as well as extravagant listening parties. This incited both controversy and intrigue for the album’s release. Similarly to the brazen persona Kanye has cultivated in the media, “Donda” has amassed largely mixed reviews. Some feel Kanye’s latest approach to music falls short of his prior work. 

     “I personally don’t like Kanye’s new album Donda,” senior Charlize Cooke said. “Some people might be able to connect to it, I’m just not one of them. I don’t enjoy the songs on this album compared to other songs I’ve heard from Kanye in the past, but that’s just my opinion. It’s mostly just personal preference in style of music.”

     The week of “Donda’s” release, rival artist Drake dropped his studio album “Certified Lover Boy.” These albums competed in the charts with “CLB” taking “Donda’s” spot on top in the second week following its release. As these two major artists go head to head, the music world is left divided on which album will end up defining the year. 

      “While receiving quite a bit of hype, [‘Donda’] didn’t truly deliver on creating a project that had a lot of truly good songs,” senior Jimmy O’brien said. “While coming together to create a nice creative experience for the listener, ‘Donda’ fell far too short and wildly missed the mark when it came to creating true ‘bangers,’ something that CLB didn’t struggle to do whatsoever. ‘Donda’ was mid, CLB on top.”

      Although some felt the album did not meet the high expectations, Kanye typically delivers and others believe “Donda” should be judged not just on it’s content, but artistic value.

      “I felt like donda was a near perfect encapsulation of Kanye accepting a new way of life,” senior Max Williams said. “In the wake of his mom’s passing he was finally able to make peace with himself through Christianity and displays that throughout the album.”