Degendering fashion

from September Issue 2021

by The Thunderbolt

with student drop offs

11 ENTER

Album Review: Donda

By: Joshua Choe; Opinions Editor

Long awaited album by rapper, song writer, and producer Kanye West, “Donda” dropped at around 5AM PST, August 29, 2021, marking his 10th studio album. Through labels GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings, it was a blessing for the album to finally drop. Delayed from its initial release date of July 24, 2020, Donda was put on hold again and again to the dismay of fans, including myself. Problems with Kanye changing up songs, both removing and adding rappers (Snoop Dogg was originally supposed to have a verse on one of the songs), and issues with DaBaby being featured on the song Jail Pt. 2, added to its continuous delay. However, multiple listening parties were held, and through them, Kanye previewed his tracks and revealed his living quarters within Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz stadium. Fans were able to note the changes between the songs played at the listening parties and the final version of each song on the album after its release.

Moving aside from its short history, the album ultimately lived up to its hype. All of the songs featured were actually better than I expected, and I was more than happy to find the typical musicality that I would expect from Kanye. Despite those that criticize the album, saying that only having a few good songs on an album doesn’t make it good, I frankly think that they’re wrong. It’s simply impossible for every song in an album to be amazing, and some songs are just meant to grow on you. I would definitely know because I used to hate Kanye before I took some time to let his songs grow on me and recognize his genius. I’m not going to even mention the number of people that only listened to the Donda Chant and unironically based their opinion of Donda off of that. The album was reminiscent of his songs: Waves, RoboCop, Dark Fantasy, and Ghost Town, which are, in my opinion and probably a lot others, among the greatest works he’s ever created. This album seemed to take a little bit more of a somber tone, in memory of Donda West, Kanye’s late mother, who died in 2007 at 58 years. I would rate this album a high 8.5/10. The only disappointment I could find from the album, aside from its multiple delays, was the removal of a lot of verses from multiple artists, including an extended Kid Cudi verse.

My favorites from the album included: Jail (feat. Jay-Z), Keep My Spirit Alive (featuring KayCyy), and New Again (feat. Chris Brown). Jay-Z’s verse on Jail was very appreciated and it was definitely nice to hear his voice on Donda. KayCyy’s chorus verse was perfect for Keep My Spirit Alive, providing the perfect back for the song. Honorable mentions were Hurricane (feat. The Weeknd, Lil Baby, and KayCyy), Lord I Need You, Jesus Lord, and Moon (Kid Cudi, and Don Toliver). Personally for me, Kanye’s music represents a lot of the best memories of my life and represents my mental changes, getting me through the worst periods of my life so far and providing me something to lean on. Throughout the whole last year and the years before that, the four above-mentioned songs, Waves, RoboCop, and Dark Fantasy were always present, playing on my phone during my best memories of long bike trips with my friends and late night hangouts. And that is a firsthand proof of what listening to music is: to be able to form connections and feel the music on a higher level, past what you initially hear. I look forward to connecting Donda with new, good memories throughout this year.

Throughout the path of creating a name for themselves, celebrities eventually create a line of merch to put their name out there. Kylie Jenner has her “Kylie Cosmetics” line and Ariana Grande has her own line of apparel. Many stars create merchandise for their supporters to show their love, and most products turn out great. Here are a few times where things didn’t go the right way. Olivia Rodrigo’s fans are bringing attention to her new, extremely low quality merch. Fans are angry that her merchandise isn’t as it seems on her website. Olivia Rodrigo is an actress most known for her role as Nina Salazer-Roberts in the hit T.V show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Paige Olvera in the Disney show Bizaardvark. Disney Channel media sensation turned singer-songwriter has since written many songs and an album, including hits Drivers Licence and Good 4 You. Her album “Sour’’ is listened to all around the world. Rodrigo’s team has crafted her brand into a line that’s relatable for teenagers , but is now receiving fire and heavy criticism from angry fans. Many tiktokers have made videos about one of her merch items available for purchase, the Sour Triptych Tank. Customers who ordered a cropped white tank expected the product from the image, but instead received a long, dress-like tank that they had to crop themselves. Other fans bought her supposedly light, lilac purple bucket hat, but received it as a solid deep purple hat instead. Some received safety pin earrings that said “Suor” instead of “Sour”, and complained that the pins do not open for fixing. Her enraged TikTok fans continued to make many more videos addressing the situation which led her team to remove over half of the defective items from her website. Along with Olivia’s dilemma with failed merchandise, James Charles, along with his infamous past, was faced with yet another scandal. James Charles is most known for being a makeup artist and beauty guru. In the past, he collaborated on Youtube videos with many other stars including Emma Chamberlain and The Dolan Twins. He started off as a local makeup artist who started a small Youtube channel where he posted makeup tutorials. While he continued to create and post videos, he eventually became a media sensation. Back in 2020, he was accused of releasing merch products that look suspiciously similar to Ethan Klein, a YouTuber and podcaster who created his own brand, “Teddy Fresh”. James and his team, not only having a bad reputation beforehand, received a sea of hate for taking another YouTuber’s merch ideas. The color scheme was almost identical, yet James’ piece had “Sisters” written across, in addition to his merch brand titled, “Sister Apparel”. According to Ethan’s tweet that same week, his wife, Hila created the hoodie and multiple other hoodie ideas for his website. James responded back with a tweet stating he had never seen Klein’s design before releasing his products and already spoke to Ethan about the situation but never got a response. He ended the tweet with “If you’d like to continue our conversation and find a solution, my DM’s are open!!” And as far as the internet could tell, that situation was finally over. The James Charles case is officially closed. Rodrigo’s, on the other hand, has not come to an end. Her fans are still afraid to purchase her products after seeing the reviews on social media and her team has yet to give out an explanation. She still has a few items on her website but removed over half of the products on her line due to criticism and obvious mistakes. As a personal fan of Olivia Rodrigo, I hope her team improves and fixes her line.