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Reacting to "Donda" by Kanye West

The time has finally arrived. I hope everyone had a good Christmas, and enjoy that new year!

Enjoy!

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Comments

Frust

Jettpalmer

bada the bada the boom, I bada the boom, I bada the bing

Jpnoriegam

I need a Stillmatic reaction so badly Bob. I think you would really enjoy it, especially the Jay Z diss track.

Tyson Coles

hey would love to see you react to moment of truth by gang starr

coopcoop

Love the reaction as always bob, please listen to Jay Electronica's album 'A Written Testimony' I really think you would like it!

kezeye

NEED that Meet the Woo reaction 💙 if you do decide to do it you should do both 1 and 2 since 1 is pretty short and there isn’t much lyrical analysis.

Atrin

I think its Kanyes fault you didnt like certain songs, because by the time they came on you were so thoroughly fatigued. If No Child Left Behind and Come to Life came on at track 7 or 9 I am willing to bet you would enjoy them much more.

Mason Kazlauskas

I think you can have an addiction like kanye has and still hate it even though you are actively addicted to it. Hes openly talked about his addiction in the past. I think there's small moments on vultures that hint to that and especially on beg forgiveness. The entire reason him and kim didn't work out is because of his addictions. I don't think he would intentionally promote the thing that ended his marriage and took away his family. Of course looking at it on the surface it definitely seems he's just fully leaned into his vices but I don't believe that's the case.

Jtone7

Bob just so you know I think you would really like the music videos very artistic and striking visuals and maybe they might help you get the album more and even if they don’t I think you’ll be able to appreciate the artistry.

Jerimiah Ortega

I think you should listen to cruel summer it’s Kanye’s label album and is a enjoyable album with him producing it

Andrew Moore

If he cut the album in half it would be perfect

Andrew Moore

Life of the party was my top 5 most played songs 2 years in a row. 3ks verse is absolutely perfect. I honestly like the censored version more than the uncensored. Then the dmx clip at the end made me tear up the first time I listened to it. Til this day, I never skip the end of the song and I play it all the way through. I think this songs is a 9.9 out of 10. Kanye kinda mumbling at the end of his verse kinda makes me mad. Still good tho.

Matthew Mendez

I had the same reactions with jik, Donda, and vultures 1. I didn’t like any of them when they first came out. But the more I listened to them the more I liked them. I more liked the songs within the albums and not the entire albums as a whole. I like 9/11 on jik, 19/26 on donda, and most of vultures actually. Again, not going into the songs as a whole but each separately. Again, I did not like any of those albums and had the same reaction as Bob did for each but they all grew on me.

Matthew Mendez

lol, don’t take it so serious. I just want reactions to other rappers and projects than the records and artists we know are the best at this.

rambowiththebow

FNL, Born Sinner, KOD, The Off-Season. I’m ready for one of those in the new year for sure

Kevin Lauture

my apologies that u had to sit 3+ hours on the album bob. me personally i havent liked a solo kanye project since mbdtf his music after that album just isnt for me.

tradez401

brother you're running a kanye hate account on patreon, check yourself @rambowiththebow

ufo

& that's the beauty of opinions. i'm glad the album made u feel something at least. i'm looking forward to ur next reaction. btw u can skip vultures 1 & 2. those albums are TRASH!

Vlairity

incredibly harsh to say about an artist who has been doing music for 20 years now lol

hdnmz

He isn’t promoting this behavior? Brother have you seen his wife? or his socials? Wasn’t he at some point going to make a literal porn website? at this point, you can’t really say that he’s doing it for the memes or acting as if he were explaining the culture in some deep and nuanced way, the man is putting it all out there and doubling down, I’m sorry to say this but I think you’re in denial, although that doesn’t invalidate your opinions on the album itself, you’re allowed to either like it or dislike it. But this narrative that you have just doesn’t make any sense my guy.

Dark Matter

On the most overall perspective I agree with Bob but to a less extreme. Its also the first noticeable milestone of what Kanye would sadly become. The tracklisting is bloated and I put this down to him announcing+sticking a release date, leaks and the multiple public listening parties he has to force out to show and gauge his fans what he has been working on. Now weak tracks can't be left off because now people expect and demand them to see release and tracks which were better previously before need to be changed so they have something new. He is not doing anything as everyone else produces and writes his stuff and even then the product is still unfinished as he got to change it. During this release he basically rented out a football stadium to finish it between release parties, yet still has punch-in/reference parts from Royce da 5'9 and Dem Joints as he cannot bother/care/have time to finish it. That is not the once perfectionist I respected. And overall unlike every other project, this contributes to lack of stylisation to his album which was one of his greatest aspects of Kanye and turned me from pre-graduation "his pretty good rapper/producer" to "wow this guy might be one of the first actual hip-hop 'artists'." Common Bob W

Matt

After watching your review yesterday and listening again myself today I can see where you’re coming from with this album. It is a bit of a mess and the production is definitely a level down which I contribute to the fact he has way too many ppl working on his beats (you had to read out an essay of producers for most songs) and his touch on them is lost. There is a fair bit of filler as well but for me the highs from this album are what make it which I feel like didn’t resonate as much with you maybe due to the lengthy listen with filler. Worth mentioning that at the time having so many songs didn’t really matter for me either as the last 3 albums had been 11 songs (some barely songs) on JIK and two 7 song albums so it was exciting to have so many new Kanye songs even if subject matter got repetitive. If I were to listen again in the future I’d make a playlist removing Jonah, Junya, Remote Control, New Again, Tell The Vision and Lord I Need You and I’d add all the 3 deluxe songs and probably change the order. Also as for the overarching theme this is a good video about what Donda actually means and how Donda West the person actually reflects on the album as well as how all the features help to achieve this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-wuHetF8Y

cameron mackinnon

Any plans for more J Cole? Would love to see The Off-Season. It’s his best rapping performance

Tyler Johnson

I'm probably gonna be the only one arguing against this sentiment, but I compare vultures to drunk and hot girls off graduation. On the surface kanye is just a creepy guy, but in it he's just "acting" the part of the creepy guy. He isn't promoting the behavior, he's explaining it. I think its the same for vultures. I believe this becomes apparent on "beg forgiveness".

Jtone7

I think the production is very intentional in that way though. With Jesus lord for example it just makes sense for it to be minimal. The same with Donda, Jonah, and no child left behind. I think kanye wants us to be in a pondering sort of state.

Jtone7

One thing I'm noticing is I'm really not experiencing the highs that other people are hearing on this album. There are moments where it gets good, but for the most part my biggest issue is the production. To me, so far (I did another listen this morning), the production is fairly stagnant. The beats don't evolve often. There isn't a lot happening. It feels a little empty to me

Bob_the_Poppop

yeah, I don't think I'm gonna

Bob_the_Poppop

:(

Bob_the_Poppop

These performances sound so incredible, honestly. Sounds like a totally different experience

Bob_the_Poppop

I took a quick glance at reviews this morning to see if I was wildly off base and yeah... opinions are all over the place on it.

Bob_the_Poppop

I generally agree with sitting with albums. Some of my personal favorites have taken a long time to 'click.' Harder to do with this kind of run time though. I'm considering trimming down the playlist I used to help with that

Bob_the_Poppop

Good comment about the idea of being free, I appreciate that 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

Very!

Bob_the_Poppop

Yeah, I understand the Drake reaction comparison lol

Bob_the_Poppop

I gave a second listen this morning and felt about the same toward. People have mentioned the "highs" of this album, and I just don't hear it. I don't feel like any of these songs crack a Top 25 list for me when it comes to Kanye's music

Bob_the_Poppop

I should do an updated top 10 for Kanye, makes sense to do now. I'd probably have to expand it to 20 though, he has a lot of music to keep it only 10 tracks

Bob_the_Poppop

Damn

Bob_the_Poppop

Life of Pablo was the last great Kanye album. Vultures is a pure mess lol

Kevin Lauture

I don’t get how Donda is so revered by some ppl. There’s so much better Kanye than this. Kanye says practically nothing of substance on any of these songs. The hype around Donda is crazy to me

Kevin Lauture

This album is soooo fking bloated, from a Kanye fan. This should have been 14 tracks at max

Shady

Vultures 1 has some really great production, some of the most fun, upbeat and alive production from a Kanye album in a while. The problem with the album is Kanye himself, he is literally talking about nothing, random nonsensical rambling. It’s either he is screaming in high pitched voice about big booty bitches or he sounds dead and like he doesn’t care. Ty dolla sign is easily the highlight of this album and really the only reason I go back to the few songs I like on the album. It’s sad because from the production you would think Kanye is back to being fun and silly but his performance is anything but. It feels like sad to hear honestly, not in the same way as Jesus is king but it’s like Kanye’s first truly pessimistic album, you come out of the album kinda just feeling nothing because it just sounds like Kanye doesn’t give a single fuck anymore. Almost all the production is done by other people and basically all of ye’s verses are written by other people so it’s amazing they somehow still end up being bad. This album is the ultimate ego trip, all the selfishness, hate and narcissism found in a lot of Kanye’s other work but with none of the self reflection, charm or care.

Jerimiah Ortega

vultures 1 has a lot more sounds/ production imo

Sporokle

Man, I'm sad you didn't like this album as much as I do. while there is a lot of filler (songs like Tell the Vision), there are genuinely some of the prettiest songs he's ever made on there. I don't get too emotional over music itself too often, but songs like 24 and Come to Life are some of his most touching songs. I am glad to see a reaction though, I sat here for about 2 hours watching around. Happy Holidays!

Flow Smo

Your view that things being said over and over essentially invalidates what’s being said (which ironically you’ve said over and over through your react history) and your insistence that the album is supposed to be about Donda really just tainted your entire experience. Perhaps step out of those framings on further listens.

Jared Ortega

love the “huh” adlibs bob!! When you’re free can you do a update on top 10 kanye?

Sporokle

I will say this album grew off me a good amount since release. It was a 10 to me and I listened to it non stop the rest of the year it came out. I took a year off listening to Kanye in 2023 and when I came back I was so excited to listen again but it just hasn’t hit like it did in 2021. Idk what means but that’s where I’m at with it.

Jared Ortega

There’s actually a balance of ye riders and just fans. “Demand better art” ?? Artists don’t owe us jack. If you perceive something to be bad don’t listen. Instead you’re telling people who enjoy the music and think it already is “better art” to do something insanely unreasonable.

Jared Ortega

what's funny is that ur reaction to this album is exactly how people reacted to the life of pablo. this album didn't click with me at first & i still don't like about 1/4 of the album, but the highs are really high. it's an album i can play pretty much anywhere. how u didn't absolutely fall in love with come to life is beyond me. that song & life of the party are some of the best kanye songs ever made. i'm also shocked u didn't absolutely hate tell the vision 😭 that song is actually unlistenable & a terrible introduction to pop smoke. respect ur opinion ofc & the video was a very interesting watch. thank u <3

Vlairity

you should really watch the music videos and especially the listening. i say this with extreme emphasis, it brings so much context to the album. even the live stream leading up to the album showing a peak into the creation. ik this album isn’t perfect but in a weird way it’s unique to that time and specifically those listening parties. i really hope watch those theirs 3 and theirs very easy to find. also the part 2s are way better than the originals. like jesus lord pt 2 is just chefs kiss. i also think this album needs a couple more listens. i think this is ye’s way of telling his own “good kid” esque story in a weird ye way.

nrxdnz

The reaction to off the grid makes me think you like drill music bob 😂

Jorge Aleman

Come to life music video

AJ Rowe

Completely disagree with your opinion

TCMNY

i used to be in the same boat as bob with this album. i thought it was too bloated, it didn’t mean much due to kanye’s track record irl, i thought a lot of it didn’t even feel like kanye it felt like kanye featuring on someone else’s song like on life if the party with andre’s verse being amazing, but it just clicked with me a few months ago. i don’t know why, but it just did. ovi there’s some tracks to take it, like jonah, junya, ok ok, tell the vision, remote control, but other than that, i just love it, and you can tell that at least kanye believes in what he says, even if he had a convuluted track record with his spirituality. hopefully it’s abel to grow on bob like some other albums have. i also really wish Ge grows on him as well, as that album is so beautiful in its own way

Pankechi57

You're paying for this still đŸ€Ł why are you talking crap

Jettpalmer

Here come the ye fans lmao. I always thought this was a tad bit overrated. Too much unfinished material which carries over into the vultures era.

Jettpalmer

Over analyzing :( idc its my favorite ye album

leo s

U just a hater fr

isaac wells

2 years after the album came out I heard Come To Life randomly and it hit the feels bad

Isaiah Piedra

i think he said in the video he wasn't getting good sleep lol. also I agree sometimes albums just dont hit the same when you're not in the right headspace

Beau Kohring

This album has so many great high points but also some bad and mid points

Andrew Moore

It’s 11 pm I’m supposed to call a girl but fuxkkkkkkkk alll that donda time babbyyyyyyyyg

Andrew Moore

My dude I’ve been waiting for this reaction for years and I can’t even get through half of it 😂 this feels like the drake reactions. Sad

Isaiah Piedra

Bob was so impressed at how bad junya was 😂😂😂😂

King Capital

Also art can be dedicated to someone without it being about them. Authors do it all the time in the beginning of their novels

Isaiah Piedra

I somewhat appreciated this album at the time as a passing of the torch moment of sorts; the album is full of features, and it largely feels like Kanye is concluding his own discography by pushing forward the next generation of talent. However, the fact that he's continued to release (frankly, awful) albums after this somewhat ruins what I thought the goal of the album initially was, and has hurt my experience with it. There are great singles off of it, but for the most part, this album marked a clear line in the sand as to where Kanye simply lost whatever fire he had when making The College Dropout through to Jesus is King. Idk; Kanye is, in my opinion, the greatest artist of all time, but with every release he does post 2020, he continually seems to be trying to shake that title.

Griffin Dec

Kanye also mentioned it’s named Donda for a reason. Not necessarily because it’s about his mom, but something about he wanted to keep her name alive and being spoken. Think about it: the word Donda is “commonly” said so much more than it did before this piece of work

Isaiah Piedra

An album doesn’t have to be cohesive. Maybe in your personal definition

Isaiah Piedra

Believe What I Say is so interesting because it’s his emotional perspective. That spoken word verse was such beautiful poetry about a man and his life/marriage

Isaiah Piedra

I think the whole idea of Donda is about being free. Kanye has talked about how his mom enabled his free thinking and ideas, making her the key to his freedom. That's also why the album seems so scattered; I feel as if it's Kanye trying to make a point of "he's free to do what he wants," which is also pretty frequently pushed in his rhetoric. I also believe Kanye is aware of the idea of trying to convince himself that he's following God; Come to Life essentially encapsulates your whole perspective on Kanye's spirituality (super valid take btw) in the lyrics "Took your thoughts and penciled them in... maybe they'll come to life". Great video as always, much love!!

Gabriel Maldonado

I’m stunned that Come to Life didn’t move him. Sometimes you’re not in the right head space for a particular piece of art.

Dave Danesh

fact.

Nick

I have cried to this album more times than I'd like to admit lol. something about it, hard to put into words--its soothing.

Nick

Havent watched the full reaction yet but that you think TLOP is his best album is ULTRA BASED imo. My fav from his

Simon

OOF that was rough, in a weird way I can understand all of your issues with it, however Donda grew on me a lot.I think that there is actually a lot of depth to the album, I always perceived Donda as a tribute to the dead. 24. a tribute to Kobe, Lil Yachty talking about Juice Wrld, the Pop Smoke tribute (even though its pretty bad), obviously Donda West, Life of the Party with Andre3k and his mother, Lil Durk and his brother, so on and so forth. I think bloat is the biggest problem, but thematically I think it's in a weird way consistent. Sit with it, the gems will come around, Come to Life is probably a top 10 Kanye song for me. I could go on and on but I do think that there is cohesion to it and not "a bunch of songs slapped together". Just sit with it Bob, but if it's not your thing, then definitely do not listen to Vultures 1 & 2, Kanye is my favorite artist and I still think he can make great music, but Vultures is just not what I want out of him.

L S

Junya reaction had me rolling

Anthony Garcia

Wasn't expecting this reaction, but i guess i maybe shouldve. When donda first came out i was like, this is alright i guess. But now its my second favorite album from kanye. Such a grower for me. With all due respect I think you kind of missed the point of the album. Imo, The album might feel directionless ironically because of the sheer amount of stuff being said. Its more so a dedication and tribute to Donda, and everything she stood for,( that being god, family, and community) among other themes like tragedy and forgiveness, rather than solely being about her. The god part being obviously very evident in the album. The family part being where he talks about kim, and his kids. And community is shown through the crazy amount of features and their own personal relationships with god, family, and tragedy. The album is also a celebration of her life rather than just a reflection. This album truly encapsulates everything in kanyes life at that point in his life.The album cover just being black which is what you get when you combine every color is pretty genius. I think if you were to spend some more time with it it definitely would grow on you at least a little. I think you definitely grazed over some songs with some good hidden meaning. Particularly moon and come to life. In moon with that song title alone. The moon is always there even though you can't see it all the time. Just like Donda in kanye's eyes. And come to life is just a passionate and beautiful song about kanye wishing people would come to life aka God, so their hopes and dreams might come true and so they could be forgiven, made whole etc. As for your opinion on pure souls I dont think its a bad thing to affirm things over yourself and convice yourself even if you struggle to believe it. There's so much more little things I could mention that could go on for ages, but I can't mention everything here unfortunately. But overall it's definitely a very personal and meaningful and good album imo.

Jtone7

Demand better art and actions from your artists people, the amount of unconditional Kanye riders in this community is insane

Samuel C

Ppl will hate on the Vultures albums but you’re so right that Junya is the worst Kanye song ever (not including loosies and troll songs). Imposter syndrome at its finest, idk why he thought we want to hear him dumb his music down to that level just to collab with Carti

cameron mackinnon

Its not all he's known for at all, hes dropped good projects and features

Z4life

didn’t say it as a good thing, i prefer a cohesive album i was just saying what it is lol.

Logan Blake

he said "it wasnt supposed to be cohesive" like thats a good thing at least vultures is cohesive even if its dogshit

Path

You’re spot on about fivio foreign’s feature on off the grid, it’s all he’s known for and was pretty much a top 3 feature from that year. Even Kanye hopped on a song with him after and mentioned how everyone thought it was the feature of the year lol

Kannon

sadness setting in again...

Mohammad Moeladawilah

Vultures 2 isn’t as horrible as ppl make it out to be but definitely has some of his worst songs ever, vultures 1 is severely overhated tho (still bottom of his discography), I think he’d have a similar reaction to it as he did for Donda

Kannon

and they got nominated but they had to add donda cause they were was nothing else 😂

rambowiththebow

I reckon he will cut out the crap songs make a good playlist and love listening to that. We’ve all been there. Also funny hearing him call Junya kanyes worst song. I hope he never has to hear bomb

M

path i'm sorry but that's such a bad argument

Ángel

It’s funny because when this came out maybe 50% of the people thought it was really mediocre and the other 50% thought it was phenomenal. I’ve never seen such a divisive album. Personally, I think it’s a really bad project

Colin Harvey

đŸ„± they left yeitler cause they ain’t wanna get canceled

rambowiththebow

Cmiygl and the off season were amazing albums that came out that year, bad take

Kannon

Thanks for being honest in this reaction. This is personally one of my favorite albums ever. I Feel like it is very difficult to fully appreciate this album without having experienced the listening parties and being aware of all the things happening at that time (the divorce, Mercedes Benz Stadium, The livestreams, the Drake beef, ...) But I understand that you don't care about those things so this album is probably not for you :(

JonasC

It was nominated cause they’re was nothing else to nominate that year 😭😭😭

rambowiththebow

A lot of the music videos are taken from the listening party livestreams, there were 3 different listening parties for the album, each with their own elaborate otherworldly set pieces, and I personally subscribe to the theory that kanye took inspiration from Dante's The Divine Comedy, where the aesthetic of each listening party corresponds to the three sections of the poem, the first being inferno (all red outfit and barren stage similar to the hell described in dantes inferno) with the last song played being jail, leading to the second listening party being purgatory with the all black suit and him being trapped in an enclosed room, and the third listening party being paradise after the iconic no child left behind ascent into the sky, it features his childhood home, the imagery with kim in the veil etc, after purging his sins in purgatory he makes his ascent through his faith in God and the lessons he learned from his mother who the album is dedicated after, i definitely feel like the album reflects this sonically, the haunting choirs, synths, the programming of the drums on most songs where its just a kick and no snares just driving through the dark night of the soul, all three parties were cool performance art contributions to the ethos and world of this album, and not only made for one of the more interesting rollouts for an album in recent years but imo complete the experience of an otherwise scattered and incohesive tracklist (the tracklists from the listening parties feel so much more structured and cohesive when experienced all together imo), but yeah very cool album i wish the actual streaming version of the tracklist reflected what he did in the listening parties tbh i think this project would have been received better

Umar Bajwa

You’re drinking a Monster. You don’t get it. It’s art, that’s why allt of people left Ye. He’s an artist and they’re not.

Wout Mattens

the man doesn't like Heaven and Hell, how could this is possible?

Waguin da PS

24 is one of my fav kanye songs ever, I think the music video is worth checking out

Umar Bajwa

bro must only just listen to this 🐑

rambowiththebow

Ladies and Gentlemen the mediocrity you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived 😂

Samuel C

thank you santa

sebastian

lol ask kanye.

Logan Blake

if it wasnt meant to cohesive then why make it an album

Path

nah, if kanye has no haters then i do not exist but they are so much better albums and people to listen to than kanye’s latest stuff.

rambowiththebow

it wasn’t supposed to be cohesive lol it’s more of a playlist of songs with some great ones and also mid ones.

Logan Blake

fivio foreign will never have another verse as good as his one on off the grid

hugh jass

Get out of here lmao

Ace Adame

Could’ve done a tech n9ne album instead of this lmao I know you kinda had to do this one tho

Ace Adame

this reaction hurt me so much waiting over 2 years for it. this was the album that made me a ye fan :( half of the hype about this album was the listening parties, and hearing the songs change and get better and better every week was so exciting, but i truly think this album IS worth the hype it has. i can agree and say this album doesn't rlly follow a theme or is even about his mom which can be very misleading, and the album does have filler songs, but there are also AMAZING songs on this tracklist, and maybe you were just slightly closed-minded, probably expecting this album to be about his mom. not having any reaction to the buildup on heaven and hell and the drop on that track was the last thing i expected! tracks 2-6 i think are perfection, off the grid is the definition of a banger and if you listen again i think you'll realize. songs like 24, moon, and come to life are some of kanye's most beautiful songs and i was surprised you weren't more into them, especially the end of pure souls!!! this album doesn't really have a theme and is more of a collection of songs, and i get that some songs like junya, remote control, and tell the vision shouldn't even be on the album in the first place, but the highs on this album is what makes it great, i'm just so sad you didn't recognize those highs:( there's a reason jail won rap song of the year at the grammys and why this album was nominated for a grammy!!! maybe some more listens will help you see what makes this album a great collection of songs

Kannon

As for music videos, Come To Life, 24 and Heaven and Hell would be the ones you could watch.

ufo

best album of this decade

Kélvisck Cabral

doesn't it hurt to be such a hater @rambowiththebow

ufo

it’s more of an album dedicated to his mother and not an album fully about her.

Logan Blake

finally someone making sense

rambowiththebow

I remember the roll out for this one, people were saying Kanye is back to his peak an album for his mother, he got the fire back etc. it came out I put it on listened to everything along with the part 2 and 2 hours later I never wanted to listen to it again. As an album experience this is horrid, disjointed, meandering and unfocussed. Any good songs this has and there are a few get lost in the sea of shit this album really is.

Boyan Konov

Watching you dislike this album hurts my heart. 🙁

Ryan Craft

Don’t waste your time on vultures đŸ˜č😂

Luis Duran

i dont like drake ik that you dont like drake but I think you should check out the cover of 24 he did for the larry hoover concert it was so beautiful

Owl /Kami

5:36 👋

Asertic

YES!!!

FijiWater

You can actually be a mall Santa 🎅 😭

Qball

this is honestly the last hoorah i wouldn’t blame you at all if it you didn’t check out vultures 1 & 2 after this.

steezo jckson

frist

Thomas de Coster


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