Kanye West has bounced between absurd news headlines more times than an Olympic ping pong ball. 

With a knack for grabbing the media’s attention, the rapper, producer and businessman isn’t just vocal through his music. In fact, he’s notorious for his controversial statements. Yet, just one year after his failed 2021 presidential candidacy, Kanye West was able to shatter Apple Music records with his new album “Donda.” 

And he barely said a single word about it.  

So, how did he do it? Well, it’s an unconventional route filled with controversy, delays and a cloud of mystery and allure. 

Which is why when Francesco Carriglio, a sophomore international business major who proudly ranks among the top 1% of Kanye West’s Spotify listeners, was awakened at 5 a.m. to the news the highly anticipated album had just dropped, he couldn’t go back to sleep. 

“I get a flurry of Twitter notifications and texts from my friends back home saying that ‘Donda’ dropped,” Carriglio said. “I told myself I’d listen to it later (that) morning, but I couldn’t help it. I was so excited and listened to it right away.”

First announced all the way back in 2019 as “Jesus in King 2,” the project was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions and later renamed to “Donda,” after West’s late mother. Finally, Rapper Pusha-T announced July 19 a listening event would take place for the album at Mercedes Benz Stadium three days later. The next day, a Beats by Dre commercial confirmed the “Donda” release date for July 23.

“There are just some individuals that know how to garner attention — a lot of the time, it’s because they live on the edge, and Kanye is certainly one of those individuals,” said Thomas Peyton, a Chapman marketing professor. “A lot of that is the power of social media and the power of the digital elements. When you’re an artist and you can get one billion views on your music video, that is among the most powerful media in the world.”

After showing up nearly two hours late to the sold-out event, West paced around in a red jumpsuit for 48 minutes as the album blared through stadium speakers for the first time. It broke the Apple live-stream record with 1.8 million views, but to his fans’ disappointment, the album was not available for streaming until Aug. 29. 

West took residency in the stadium to finish the album for a second listening party, where he capped off the show by ascending into the sky, guided by a glowing beacon of light. Delayed once more, West recreated his childhood home at Soldier Field in his hometown of Chicago for a third listening party, where he danced on stage with controversial figures such as DaBaby and Marilyn Manson, set himself on fire and remarried Kim Kardashian. 

The album was released Aug. 29, effectively  breaking the Apple Music single-day streaming record with 60 million streams. It topped the charts in 152 countries and landed 19 songs in the Apple Music top-20 chart. 

“The bigger artists are becoming their own brand and eclipsing the label in many cases,” Peyton said. “These artists have started to dictate terms to the label on how things are going to work, and that never happened in the past.” 

Junior screenwriting major Lily Emalfarb said the new album is her favorite of all 10 Kanye West albums, with its biggest strengths being the lyricism and West’s vulnerability. The album even includes a track of popular R&B singer Syleena Johnson chanting the name Donda at a pace which mimics Donda West’s last heartbeats.

“I think when someone takes it upon themselves to be vulnerable and create art, it should be celebrated,” Emalfarb said. “A lot of artists these days aren’t true with their work and try to be someone that they’re not. Kanye is himself.  I feel like every song was as important as the next.”

Comparatively, Carriglio views the album’s use of 29 unique artist features as its biggest asset.  However, he does spot one flaw.

“While I do admire the first half of the album being a party type of album, there is a pretty polarizing shift to some gut-wrenching songs,” Carriglio said. “I think that rather than shifting in the same album, splitting them into two different albums would have been a better move.”

Despite the tonal shift, Carriglio said he enjoyed the album immensely. He also noted the reason why the singer will always be his favorite artist: West’s emphasis on self-worth.

“When I was younger, I didn’t have a lot of confidence; I didn’t believe in myself or (being) the person that I wanted to be,” Carriglio said. “It was when I got into college that I decided I wanted to be a new person for myself. I fell down (the Kanye West) rabbit-hole and found that his songs are anthems for self confidence and loving who you are. He was the artist I wish I listened to when I was bullied all the time and felt insecure about myself.”