“Jonah” is a tribute to Jonah Ware, an independent recording artist from Louisville, Kentucky, who was shot and killed on August 8, 2020.
The track features Houston singer Vory and Chicago rapper Lil Durk, marking their first collaborations with Kanye, along with background vocals from Ye’s frequent collaborator Ty Dolla $ign.
On the song’s melancholy chorus, Vory laments feelings of isolation and loneliness, expressing despair in fighting his metaphorical “demons” without the support of his significant other. This mirrors the betrayal, and resulting pain and trauma, that Kanye experienced during his divorce from Kim Kardashian, which he expressed on the song “Never Abandon Your Family.”.
In October 2020, Kanye and Durk sparked collaboration rumors after being spotted together in Atlanta.
A snippet of the song surfaced on December 5, 2020, as a solo Vory song. The song was later given to Kanye for Donda and played at the Atlanta listening party on July 22, 2021, with a Lil Durk feature and no Kanye vocals.