Kanye West and Marilyn Manson are working together on Donda 2, the sequel to West's 2021 album Donda, according to producer Digital Nas in an interview with Rolling Stone. Nas said he sees Manson "a lot in the studio. Like, every day I go to the studio, Marilyn is there working on Donda 2." Nas later added that the collaboration isn't exactly focused on any specific genre.
"He doesn't want Marilyn to play rap beats," Nas says. "He wants Marilyn to play what he makes, and then Ye will take parts of that and sample parts of that and use parts of that, like he did [generally when making] Yeezus. … He has some producers from Yeezus working on Donda 2 this time around, [as well as] Marilyn, me, a bunch of producers from Donda 1."
Collaborator Tim Skold (ex-KMFDM, ex-Marilyn Manson) has also posted a photo of Manson in the studio with West on his Instagram. Manson and West previously worked together on Donda 1 and were even nominated for a GRAMMY, so the partnership isn't exactly a surprise on that front… but given all the legal issues Manson faces, it is.
The friendship between Manson and West has been a controversial one to say the least, given Manson is currently being sued by numerous women for varying accusations of sexual assault. Most recently, actress Evan Rachel Wood claimed that Manson "once threatened to fuck her eight-year-old son." Manson's home was also raided by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in November as a part of their ongoing investigation into sexual assault claims.
West has since defended Manson, calling cancel culture "'1984' mind-control."
"All the 'Me Too'… like, when I sit next to Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, right after both of them got canceled, for five songs, you know, it's like they can't cancel a song," he said. "They'll hit you with the accusations or somebody who you was with 10 years ago. And also, there's women who've been through very serious things, pulled in alleys against their will; that's different than a hug, but it's classified as the same thing. It's power and politics. You know, power-hungry maniacs and just control. This is 1984 mind-control we're in. And mob mentality."
Rolling Stone mentions Donda 2 is out February 22. Considering Donda 1 was originally slated for July 2020 and then multiple dates after that before finally coming out in August 2021, I think we can all assume that ain't happening.
