Next month will officially mark two years since Kanye West’s most recent studio album, Donda. Although he has delivered very little output on digital streaming platforms since then, it now seems like that drought could come to an end soon.
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On Wednesday (July 12), YouTube show No Jumper released a new interview with Chicago rapper Rooga. Two years ago, Rooga collaborated with West on “Ok Ok,” the eighth song on Donda that also featured a verse from Lil Yachty. Additionally, for one of the many listening parties West hosted in the weeks leading up to Donda’s release, he welcomed Rooga to the stage to have him perform “GD Anthem,” a hit song he released in the summer of 2021 dedicated to his GD gang in Chicago.
Knowing that Rooga and West have a tight relationship, NoJumper host Adam22 asked Rooga about West’s latest activity and whereabouts. Without wanting to share too much insight, Rooga succinctly said, “he’s working on an album.”
This is practically the first reputable announcement made about any upcoming West music in quite a long time. And, further corroborating the legitimacy of Rooga’s claim, he also mentioned at the beginning of the interview that he visited Japan recently, where West was spotted with his new wife Bianca Censori earlier this week.
West’s last attempt at an album came in early 2022 with Donda 2. After hosting a handful of listening sessions for the project, he decided to put out all the unfinished, yet-to-be-mixed and mastered versions of the LP’s songs on the Stem Player, a music streaming device he had endorsed and invested in. Including feature verses from Jack Harlow, Migos, Travis Scott, Future, Baby Keem, XXXTentacion, Soulja Boy, Don Toliver, and more, the album never earned an official release on DSPs.
Later in the year, West’s widely-publicized, weeks-long antisemitic tirade likely derailed any momentum he had toward a music release, on top of resulting in lawsuits and brand deal break-ups. Aside from Rooga’s decree this week, no other information is known about what could potentially be West’s 11th official studio album.
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