What’s a Kanye West album release without the drama?
After several date changes and delays, the rapper’s long-awaited 10th album Donda finally appeared on streaming services on Sunday, much to the delight of his fans.
But West, who recently filed court papers to change his name to just Ye, is now claiming Donda was released without his blessings.
“Universal put my album out without my approval and they blocked Jail 2 from being on the album,” he posted on Instagram hours after the album's release.
Jail pt 2, which features rocker Marilyn Manson and rapper DaBaby, was initially not included in the track list on Donda's release, but is now available along with 26 other songs in the album.
It wasn’t clear why the song was missing in the first place.
In since-deleted posts on Instagram, West had earlier claimed that DaBaby’s management was holding up the release.
West posted a screenshot of text messages he exchanged with his manager. “I’m not taking my brother off,” he says in the message.
“He was the only person who said he would vote for me in public,” West said, referring to his failed US presidential bid in 2020.
The inclusion of Manson and DaBaby, who both appeared on stage at the album’s listening party in Chicago on Thursday, was also widely criticised.
Manson is facing several charges of rape and sexual assault, while DaBaby was recently dropped from a number of shows after his homophobic comments at a Miami music festival.
Donda, named after West’s mother Donda West who died in 2007, was initially supposed to release in July. That date was changed many times before finally being made available on streaming sites on Sunday.
Besides Manson and DaBaby, the 27-track album which is 108 minutes long features a raft of celebrity cameos including The Weeknd, Lil Baby, Kid Cudi, Chris Brown, Pop Smoke, Ty Dolla Sign, Travis Scott and Lil Yachty. Former mentor Jay-Z, with whom West released the acclaimed 2011 album Watch the Throne, also makes an appearance on the track Jail.
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
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Al Nahda Pond Park
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Al Qudrah Lakes
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
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- Professional ethics.
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
