During a conversation with French fashion designer Michèle Lamy in an Instagram Live stream on May 25, 2020, American cinematographer Arthur Jafa revealed that he was working on video material with West for a single from his forthcoming album, titled God's Country.

[6] Since his tweet that announces his 2024's run for presidency on November 4, 2020,[7][8] West went radio silent for the entirety of the album's promotion; not saying anything on social media and wearing a full face mask in public.

[8] Information about the album and its listening events was relayed through fellow collaborators such as Consequence, Malik Yusef, Justin LaBoy, and Pusha T.[8] West's manager Abou "Bu" Thiam teased the release of Donda on June 8, 2021, commenting on Gap's Instagram post announcing their jacket with Yeezy, "WestDayEver.

[18] Westside Gunn would later confirm his collaboration with West in an interview for Elliot Wilson on Tidal, alongside recalling that they were set to travel to Cabo San Lucas after recording in Wyoming, until the COVID-19 pandemic canceled their plans.

[27] On June 14, 2021, court documents were obtained revealing that West was recording for the album in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he held sessions at Island Sound Studio, after reportedly "freaking out" during his deposition in an ongoing lawsuit with tech company MyChannel.

[32] After holding a listening event for Donda at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021, West took up temporary residence in one of the locker rooms, converting it into a studio for finishing the recording and mixing with producer Mike Dean.

[38][39] After failing to meet the album's scheduled release date of July 23, West continued to record and live in Mercedes-Benz Stadium up until the second listening party held there on August 5, 2021.

[72] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood described it as a blend of Yeezus's rough industrial hip-hop, the "church-organ gospel" of West's previous studio album Jesus Is King (2019), the "gothic swagger" of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), and the "bleeping" electropop of 808s & Heartbreak (2008).

[79] Jon Caramanica wrote for The New York Times that in Donda, West continues to trade off the lyrical focus on self-awareness and wordplay of his earlier material for a more "terse and immediate approach, one that complements his musical shifts toward the industrial and the spiritual", which he started to do in the 2010s.

"[80] Lyrically, the song features Baby Keem mixing "worship with the dark carnality of the mosh pit" and Kanye West connecting his issues to God's mysterious behavior.

[76][83] "Jonah" sees him rapping about his relationship with God,[78] alongside fellow rappers Vory and Lil Durk opening up about their pain of losing friends and family members, respectively.

[69][83] West and the Sunday Service Choir provide worship on "24",[72] which features him delivering a message of hope in relation to God,[65] backed by a discordant organ played by Cory Henry.

[71][88] Rapper Jay Electronica then offers a cryptic worldview based on various points, before the song ends with the son of gang leader Larry Hoover thanking West for taking his father's case to the White House of 2017–2021 US president Donald Trump.

[65][84] "No Child Left Behind" is the album's final track before the second versions of songs and features Vory uttering the titular phrase in reference to the educational act signed by 2001–2009 US president George W. Bush, as well as West singing about the guidance and strength that he has received from God.

[67] On June 26, 2020, West unveiled a collaboration between his fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap, and also launched the #WestDayEver promotional campaign on Twitter that accompanied announcements of different projects.

[98][73] On July 20, 2021, Audio products company Beats by Dre premiered a commercial during game six of the 2021 NBA Finals with athlete Sha'Carri Richardson, scored by West's track "No Child Left Behind".

The black-and-white visual incorporates aerial footage from the album's Soldier Field listening event that shows the replica of Kanye West's childhood home, on which flashes of old pictures of Donda are projected.

[130] On October 16, 2021, West performed a four-song set for Tiffany & Co. executive Alexandre Arnault and D'estree founder Geralde Guyot after their wedding in Venice, Italy, which included "Come to Life" and "Believe What I Say".

[132] On July 25, 2020, West tweeted out an album cover,[133] showing an infrared scheme of orange and red mirroring the shape of the people, sun, and moon in the sky, backed by green mountains alongside purple and white clouds designed by Pierre-Louis Auvray.

[179] Following the event, Kid Cudi was reported to be featured on "Moon" and "Remote Control" alongside Don Toliver and Young Thug, respectively, though he was only included on the final version of the former on Donda.

[184] The event was livestreamed on Apple Music and started nearly two hours behind schedule, beginning at 10:49 p.m.[163][185] Kanye West appeared by coming out from the replica home while wearing an all-black outfit, accompanied by footage and photo collages of Donda.

[65] Wood asserted that Donda registers more as a way "of maintaining Kanye's powerful social standing" than "an organized aesthetic experience", characterizing it as feeling "slapdash" due to the disorganized themes.

[63] He complained how the album "aches" for "a miracle to unfold" of similarity to the accompanying listening events and harshly asserted that it seems like "a career's worth of B-sides", despite crediting the highlights for being "pretty good".

[63] The revelation of DaBaby and Marilyn Manson as guest artists during Donda's August 26 listening event was met with intense disapproval from critics due to the respective allegations of homophobia and sexual abuse against them.

"[114] In response, as Ellen Durney of BuzzFeed News wrote, "some fans" suggested that the inclusion of DaBaby and Manson might have been West's "attempt at commentary on 'cancel culture'",[198] and Consequence writer Alex Young provided a similar presumption.

[115][200][201] Marilyn Manson's former partner Evan Rachel Wood, who had accused him of sexual assault, "seem[ed] to respond" to his inclusion on Donda a few hours after its release, according to NME's Daly.

Caramanica said it "lives at the intersection" of West's Yeezus and Jesus eras, commenting that the "scabrous, churning production that sets a chaotic mood" is accompanied by "moments of intense searching, gasps for air amid the unrest".

[206] Billboard placed it at number 39 on their "The 50 Best Albums of 2021: Staff List", with Heran Mamo declaring that West confronts his inner demons and "yearns for mercy without two key women" in his mother and Kardashian.

This led to him joining 5 Seconds of Summer, Justin Bieber, Keith Urban, Kings of Leon, and Lady Gaga as one of the acts to achieve their fourth number-one album in the 2020s decade.

[225] The album also topped the charts in Austria,[226] Belgium's Flanders and Wallonia regions,[227][228] the Czech Republic,[229] Denmark,[230] Finland,[231] Iceland,[232] Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.