Music
30 Aug 21

Kanye West claims Universal released Donda without his permission

Kanye West claims Universal released <em>Donda</em> without his permission

Kanye also stated that Universal Music Group blocked 'JAIL 2' from appearing on the project.

Kanye West took to social media hours after the release of his highly-anticipated 10th album Donda to say his label dropped it without his permission.

Donda dropped yesterday (August 29) after multiple delays and a number of listening parties. However Kanye disputed its release in an Instagram post saying: “UNIVERSAL PUT MY ALBUM OUT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM.”

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Universal reps offered no comment to Variety, but sources from the company said the claims were “preposterous.” Kanye’s mention of “JAIL 2” refers to ‘Jail pt. 2’ which was unavailable to stream until five hours after Donda's release.

As reported by Variety, when a song is blocked from streaming on Spotify or other services, it means the song has not been cleared legally due to a copyright conflict or similar issue.

‘Jail pt 2’ - and its sister track ‘Jail’ - have stirred up controversy for Kanye as it features Marilyn Manson, who has been accused of sexual assault and horrific abuse by several women and DaBaby who recently made a slew of homophobic comments.

Kanye received backlash for appearing at his third listening party for Donda on Thursday (August 26) flanked by the pair. The criticism of West has continued since the event.

The features on Donda have also been a huge talking point since its release. It was revealed at Thursday's listening party in Chicago that Jay-Z’s verse on ‘Jail’ was replaced by DaBaby.

Jay-Z’s verse was reinstated however Soulja Boy took to social media to tell fans his verse was cut from ‘Remote Control.’ Pusha T also seems to have been scrapped from the record’s title track.

Donda is Kanye's 10th studio album and follows up his 2019 release Jesus Is King. No singles were released from the album, which has been in the works for years in what has been a tumultuous album cycle for the rapper. Donda is also the name of Kanye's late mother who passed away in 2007.

Stream Donda below.