Music
Kanye West Reveals Rare Photos With Donda In Emotional Mother’s Day Tribute
On May 8, Kanye “Ye” West released the music video for the song “Life of the Party,” which was featured on his album “Donda” that was named after his late mother Donda West. The visuals that were dropped on Mother’s Day, featured old photos of the rapper, and a few snaps of Donda. “If there’s a heaven you would think they’d let you speak to your son,” Ye raps on the emotional track, per Genius. Deepfake technology was used in the video to make it appear that the old photos of the “Runaway” artist are rapping.
André 3000 was initially recruited to appear on the song, as the Outkast artist was intrigued by the track’s concept. “I was inspired by his idea to make a musical tribute to his mom,” André 3000 said in a statement, per Variety. “It felt appropriate to me to support the ‘Donda’ concept by referencing my own mother, who passed away in 2013,” he added. Unfortunately, the song became mired in controversy after Ye added a verse that took direct shots at Drake. That came as a surprise to André, as he wanted the message to focus on their deceased mothers.
There were a multitude of Donda snaps for Ye to choose from when composing the visuals for “Life of the Party.” “There are always pictures of him and his mother,” DJ Khaled told the Chicago Tribune after her death. “His mother is his life. And he had a close bond with her; they were best friends.”
