Kanye West's new verse isn't great, but the beat, the DMX sample and Andre 3000 verse show that West is still in the midst of a creative high point.
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2021 has been a strange year for Kanye West. His marital troubles, mental health issues and album rollout methods have all been concerning and received intense media coverage. While tracks like ‘Off the Grid’ made Donda a hit, other tracks dragged it down, causing the critical reception to the record to be lukewarm.
Strangely enough, West’s rivalry with Drake bizarrely led to West leaking a deleted track from Donda, titled ‘Life of the Party’.
Funnily enough, fans loved the song and Drake looked ridiculous. Fans of West’s music also got their hands on a track with Andre 3000 of the influential hip-hop duo Outkast, after he was given a feature credit for repeating the title of ’30 Hours’ from West’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo, leaving fans disappointed.
Thankfully, West added the song to Donda’s new deluxe edition, changing his verse entirely (Andre 3000 didn’t want West to release the version with disses to Drake on it, as his verse was so personal) and adding a new hook and intro. It is one of the best tracks now on Donda as a whole, largely thanks to Andre 3000’s unsurprisingly incredible verse about losing his parents and struggling with his faith in a world without them (the same struggle which caused him to leave hip-hop almost entirely).
West’s new verse leaves something to be desired – but it isn’t bad. The focus goes more so to his great beat, a soulful and smooth track that wouldn’t feel out of place on Late Registration. The sample of the recently passed DMX, maintained from the leaked version, is also intensely touching and another great point is made about loss through its use. It’s not perfect, but it is a great song and one of the best of West’s Donda era.
‘Life of the Party’ is now streaming. Listen below:
