Never Abandon Your Family

Never Abandon Your Family

Kanye West

“Never Abandon Your Family” is the first time that Ye publicly opens up about his divorce from his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and the emotional labor the familial separation has caused him.

At the debut event for the album Donda, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian wore fully in red, as did Kanye, which made fans on the internet draw connections with this song.

During the song’s debut at the sold-out Donda listening party at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Kanye dropped to his knees in front of the crowd of 49,000. Kanye gets personal about his father’s lack of a presence during his youth, and how he does not want the same for his children.

Recited countless times throughout the song is Donda West saying “no matter what, you never abandon your family.” This holds immense emotional weight for Kanye as he does not want to make the same mistakes as his father.

The song was supposed to be released on Donda, since it was played at the first listening party, but it was ultimately scrapped from the project.

Following the release of Donda, on October 26, 2021, the Donda Stem Player started to arrive to people who had bought them, they revealed this song arrived with the product, along with other songs that were cut from the final version.