Donda

Expanding SZA’s SOS album cover cheapens the theme of the album, as AI placing people in the water undermines the artist’s attempt at capturing her own loneliness.Image: DALL-EThe beauty of a good album cover is that it can perfectly encapsulate the mood of a dozen or so songs in a single image or illustration—and that’s a difficult feat when you only have a square-sized canvas to work with. In order to depict the world that an album takes place in, musicians and their designated team of photographers, stylists, and/or…

Kanye West took a giant step away from the spotlight following his controversies in 2022, but just when you thought he was gone, the rapper has made it into a few headlines yet again. The newlywed, disgraced rapper is entangled in a lawsuit related to his private school, Donda Academy. In April, Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers—two former teachers at the school—filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination, discrimination, and unlawful withholding of wages. Hailey and Byers were both hired in January 2022 but were fired two…

At Kanye West’s Donda Academy, the performer’s Christian K-12 school, students were subjected to unsafe, unregulated and unsanitary conditions, two former teachers allege in a lawsuit against West and others filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, the only two Black female teachers at the school, were fired after they voiced concerns over the conditions to administrators, according to the complaint.The school, named for West’s mother, operated in Simi Valley before moving…

Kanye West’s Donda Academy has been dealt another huge blow.According to legal documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, the controversial artist and his private Christian school are being sued by Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers—two former employees who say they were fired in retaliation for reporting code violations. The plaintiffs, who were reportedly the only Black female teachers at Donda Academy, say they were hired as full-time teachers in January and fired about two months later, after expressing concerns over…

Image: KanoKano, the company behind the $200 Stem Player that was once the only way to buy Ye’s Donda 2 album, is back with a de-Ye-tified version of the device, as well as a new Stem Projector that promises to offer the same remixing tricks for videos, but minus the problematic connection to a celebrity now best known for anti-semitic rants.Long before Kano partnered with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, for the Stem Player (which looked like a smart speaker covered in squishy synthetic flesh), the company had made a…

According to a pastor in Los Angeles, the artist formerly known as Kanye West is looking to revive his recently shuttered Donda Academy school, TMZ reports.The controversial hip-hop mogul, who recently brought white nationalist Nick Fuentes to a dinner with Donald Trump, has allegedly spoken with Pastor Ronald Nagin of the Cornerstone Christian Church multiple times over the last month about reviving the school. According to Nagin, the disgraced hip-hop mogul met with him face-to-face three times, and has expressed…

Kanye West is looking to expand his Donda Sports brand.TMZ reports Ye’s company Mascotte Holdings has filed new trademarks for apparel items such as shirts, jackets, hats, and shoes, as well as several accessories, including fanny packs, luggage, wallets, umbrellas and blankets.In addition, Kanye is ready to trademark “Dove Sports,” with the outlet noting that West wants the exclusive right to use this label for “athletic services such as training sessions, competitions, tournaments, camps, seminars, field trips and even…

Kanye West’s latest venture is education.The rapper recently opened Donda Academy—the latest namesake for his late mother— in Simi Valley, California with almost 100 students enrolled. The Christian prep school has been shrouded in secrecy, which, according to a new report from Rolling Stone, seems to be purposeful.“The process of Donda school is for the parishioners, for the attendees,” Malik Yusef—a producer and West’s collaborator on forming the school’s concept—told the publication. “I don’t think Kanye needs to tell…

The artist formerly known as Kanye West has teased plans for the construction and launch of Donda University.In an Instagram post overnight, Ye shared a screenshot of a text exchange with an unnamed individual who asked him about adding onto the property in California that’s currently used for the Donda Academy school, which serves students ranging in education level from pre-K to 12th grade.When answering the question, Ye referenced the previously mentioned property in Georgia offered, free of charge, by Young Thug amid…

During a 2013 interview with the New York Times, Kanye West shed some light on his feelings about his own discography. It wasn’t quite as tidy as JAY-Z photographing all of his music albums in an ordered stack, but it did reveal a lot about what Kanye thinks of his output. He said that 808s & Heartbreak “redefined the sound of radio,” while admitting that “the fact that I can’t sing that well is what makes 808s so special.” Meanwhile, he called My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy a “backhanded apology.” In more clear…