In 2021, Kanye releases one of his most personal and important albums: a huge dedication to his late mother Donda. The presentation of “Donda” consisted of three concerts, the first of which took place in Atlanta. The musician appeared before the public as a helpless child who could not find a place for himself. He then grows and transmits the metaphor of being able to move forward with his life. You appear before the public in red clothes, which symbolize the heart, alive, but wounded.
The second presentation also took place at the Atlanta stadium; Demna Gvasalia became the creative director of the performance. The concert was dedicated to Kanye’s fight with a cruel world: West, like a real warrior, surrounds himself with an army, puts on armor (from the latest Balenciaga collection), starts training and chooses weapons and methods of war . Before the concert, the rapper demonstrates how he lives in the spartan conditions of the stadium: the broadcast from the small room in which the musician was located was carried out 24 hours a day. He opens himself up to millions of fans who can get under his skin and hurt him. This refers the viewer to Marina Abramovic’s performance, when each visitor could take a weapon and wound the artist. During the performance, crowds of soldiers rush around West, he becomes the god of war, fights against cruel reality and after the final battle ascends to heaven. He returns to Donda, because this whole war was just for her.
During the third performance, Kanye analyzes the questions that often arise in his head: numbers of Bible verses, quotes or individual words appear on the screens, the performance shows that the rapper was able to communicate with his mother in heaven. Then, tired after the battle, he returns home (on the stage you can see an exact copy of his house, where he lived with his mother). Then a girl in a white dress (probably Kim Kardashian) appears in front of Kanye, symbolizing that the rapper was able to face his problems and find a new family; Yeh also burns metaphorically to show renewal: he finds a connection with God, forgives everyone, and finds answers to the questions that trouble him.
Kanye turns inward, opens his soul and talks about his personal problems to the whole world – this is a method of self-medication and sublimation of the problems he had to face. West demonstrates with his personal example that there is no shame in suffering, nor in showing feelings. He often turns to stories from the past to understand what became the incentive for certain actions. Some time after the release, he released a Bible video for the song “Heaven And Hell.” The video is full of visual references: John Martin’s painting “The Fall of Babylon,” 19th-century engravings, Michael Jackson’s video for the song “Stranger in Moscow,” and René Magritte’s “Lovers.” These creations convey the meaning of human life and also encourage us to think about global issues that concern everyone. Likewise, on the album, West asks questions about what is important to him specifically.
