Kanye West Honours Late Mother With New Song: ‘Donda’

Kanye West is back to making headlines for music, as opposed to his dreams of occupying the White House as President of the US. And with new music, comes some semblance of normalcy. 

Earlier today, Kanye West took to Twitter to share a 2:20 second snippet of a new song he calls ‘Donda’. Accompanying the video is a caption that reads: “In loving memory of my incredible mother on her birthday. My mom reciting KRS1 lyrics. This song is called DONDA”. 

The snippet is a collection of clips that detail Black and African communities all over the world. Running over the visual is the voice of Kanye’s mother reciting the lyrics from iconic rapper, KRS-One’s 1993 track, ‘Sound of Da Police’. Donda says: “Be a officer? You wicked overseer!/ Ya hotshot, want to get props and be a savior// First show a little respect, change your behavior/ Change your attitude, change your plan// There could never really be justice on stolen land.”

Experimenting with form on this track, ‘Donda’ sounds more like an interlude. The tail end of the clip offers a rap from Kanye West himself. He sings: “Momma, I need you to tuck me in/ I done made some mistakes and they rubbed it in/ (Boy) I know you and grandma had enough for them/ (Boy) Why I gotta be so stubborn then?/ (Boy) I’m doin’ this one for y’all/ So we could end racism once and for all/ How many praises they gon’ make? (Uh) Watch the safe/ One hand wash the other, both hands wash the face.”

The track isn’t currently available on any streaming services, including YouTube. Fans speculate that this isn’t the full track, and only a sample of it, considering how little of Kanye’s rap we actually hear. 

Last week, Kanye West took everyone by surprise when he released the first single off his forthcoming album. The track, ‘Wash Us In The Blood’ features Travis Scott. The project is a Christian, neo-rap song that sets out to detail the black experience in America. 

By: Ahalya Narayanan