Kanye West’s new album Donda made its debut on August 29 after being long awaited. The whopping 27 song album is a gospel-esque tribute to Kanye’s mother Donda West, who tragically died in 2007 after suffering from liposuction complications. The album is very emotional and follows West on a journey of dealing with his mothers loss while combating his faith.

The album opens with the song “Donda chant” which is a good attempt at a creative opening but was more widely perceived by the public as a meme rather than a serious song or creative initiative. On this note, there are various songs that are closer related to monologues than actual songs and are only in the album to remind the people of the theme of the album.

Every song on Donda has a very emotional meaning. Listening to the lyrics of songs like “Lord I Need You” and “Keep My Spirit Alive” show how open Kanye is about his trauma, and it becomes very evident that he is pouring himself into religion to better himself, which is a very touching concept. But, this does not mean this album is a perfect no-skip piece of work. Certain songs, their meaning aside, were not something that I could see myself listening to, and the Lourdes girls that I spoke to agreed. When I shared my thoughts on the album with junior Ava Arenado, she said she agreed with my thoughts for the majority. We spoke about songs like “Jesus Lord/ Part 2” which are very tacky and feel out of place in the album and “Off The Grid” which is “just a very repetitive song that gives you a headache” in Arenado’s words, and I have to agree.

On a lighter note, there are also some amazing songs that are definitely playlist worthy. One example is my personal favorite song of this album, “Believe What I Say” which features a sample from Lauryn Hill”s song “Doo Wop.” This song is absolutely amazing and I have been listening to it daily since the album’s release. Another amazing release is “Pure Souls” a song that from the first second makes you want to sing and dance with friends. If you like something a bit more relaxed, I highly recommend “24” or “Ok Ok” if you want to hype yourself up.

Overall I think that Donda has at least one song for every music taste and it includes probably the most features in any album I have listened to. This album is very emotional and spiritual while still managing to add some great songs to the mix. This is definitely one of Kanye’s best, and I recommend that everyone listen to it.