Kanye West honours his late mother in new video for ‘Donda Chant’
Kanye West has shared a film clip for ‘Donda Chant’, the opening track to the rapper’s recently released tenth album, ‘DONDA’.
The video, posted to West’s Instagram page last night (September 18), was shot at the third and final listening party held for ‘DONDA’ before its release, taking place at Chicago’s Soldier Field stadium on August 26. It features an aerial shot of the stadium’s centrepiece – a replica of West’s childhood home – with monochromatic photos of his late mother Donda projected onto it.
Take a look at the video below:
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The new clip for ‘Donda Chant’ – a spoken-word introduction delivered by singer-songwriter Syleena Johnson – comes as the third visual accompaniment West has shared for ‘DONDA’. A video for ‘24’ was released earlier this week, following a West-directed clip for ‘Come To Life’ that dropped at the start of the month.
‘DONDA’ was was released on August 29 via GOOD Music / Def Jam, following over a year of periodic delays. NME gave the album a three-star review upon release, writer Rhian Daly saying: “At one hour and 44 minutes, ‘DONDA’ is incredibly – and unnecessarily – long.
“There is no artist in the world capable of making a flawless record that spans nearly two hours – Kanye included. There are plenty of seeds of what could be good ideas here, and some legit great tracks, but had he taken a little more time to edit things, this could have been a classic – focussed, poignant and powerful.”
‘DONDA’ debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 Chart, making West one of only seven artists with at least ten Number One albums in the 65-year history of the chart. The streak was short-lived, however, after rival Drake took the top spot with his own new album, ‘Certified Lover Boy’.
Producer Mike Dean recently discussed his experience working on ‘DONDA’, calling the experience “gruelling”. Todd Rundgren also opened up about his work on the album, the famed guitarist saying he grew “frustrated” after contributing “three albums worth of stems” without hearing much feedback from West.