There’s a tl;dr at the bottom, but I highly recommend reading the italicized texts before jumping all the way down. 🌊

During the Yeezus tour, Kanye wore a mask for most of the show. The masks, at least in my interpretation of the seattle show, seemed to correspond with different eras. If you missed out on the yeezus tour, i feel bad for you. Kanye served up a good mix of songs, and literally became the era of kanye you wanted for a period of time using the masks as a way to emphasize that. Also, that mountain. The production was, as some critics put it, like a rap opera.

Yeezus follows the story of the rap god. He starts off arrogant and loud, so he tries to show you where he came from as a way to explain himself. But that doesn’t do the trick for the audience. Being the unobservant stans that they are, he’s still seen as this mythical masked being. Then a higher power shows up. “Finally! A chance to show my followers that I would be humbled by a higher power!” The audience supposedly recognizes this, and is able to more easily relate to our protagonist.

Jesus walks up and kanye pulls off the mask, exclaiming “jesus wow its you!” in what I think was a way to show the audience he recognizes a higher power. He didn’t even unmask for coldest winter; although, he did make a point to dedicate to his mom.

During Yeezus, I think Kanye was riding a high from starting a family and winning a grammy for best album. After deciding to create the “unfiltered like when a kid draws the monster under the bed” album, he decided a regular tour wasn’t going to suffice. So, he set out to tell the story of Yeezus by building a mountain to tell it from. The key takeaway here? Storytelling.

TLOP showed us that while Yeezus is a god, even gods wonder which///one sometimes.

Admitting there’s a problem in ye; the search for for forgiveness in religion and JIK.

And now, Donda. The illusion that helped create Yeezus has been shattered.

A reality shattered. Yeezus, a rap god who lived the life of Pablo, comes down from the high of inflated ego to find he has lost everything. Facing reality, he realizes he was never ascending a mountain; he was descending into hell. Now, he has to escape. Using the faith his mother instilled in him as a boy, and the help of some friends like Popsmoke along the way, Ye fights his way through the rings of hell. After escaping the clutch of eternal sin, the rap god is left to contemplate his life in purgatory. Then, he hears a familiar voice calling him home. When we last saw Ye, he seemingly ascended into the heavens... Find out what happens next in “Donda 3: the Album Experience!”

The first mention I can find of the mask is at the DMX funeral. As the rollout starts, for an album focused on the death of his mother, he begins to wear masks again.

Through both listening parties, kanye wore masks. I’m not sure what he’s hiding behind his mask now (shame? Guilt? Does it just represent that he not fully able to be himself?), but Im sure hes telling a story. I am sure that, just like in Yeezus, Kanye is going to walk us through part of his life in a mask then unmask himself for the thing that humbles him.

Tl;dr

Donda is a retelling of Yeezus.

During Yeezus, Kanye pulled his mask off for Jesus.

During Donda, he’ll take it off for Donda.

I need sleep. 🌊

Edit: donda synopsis