Cinematographer Arthur Jafa prematurely revealed the project during an Instagram Live stream on May 25, 2020, in talk with fashion designer Michèle Lamy. During the stream, Jafa indicated that he was working on video-related material with West for a single from a "forthcoming album" titled God's Country.[6] On June 26, 2020, following the announcement of a collaboration between West's fashion company Yeezy and clothing retailer Gap, West launched the #WestDayEver promotional campaign on Twitter to announce different projects across June 26. One of the projects was revealed to be a music video for "Wash Us in the Blood", directed by Jafa.[7] The video was released four days later, following a teaser on Twitter in which West officially revealed the title of the album as God's Country.[8] On July 13, West shared a snippet over Twitter of a song from the album, titled "Donda", which features a spoken word introduction from his late mother. The song was accompanied with a preview of the music video. On July 18, West announced the title had been changed to Donda and that the album would be released on July 24, but it was not released on that date. The album is named after West's late mother, Donda West, and shares a name with his creative content company. On July 21, West stated that the album would be released alongside a movie. On July 25, West released a tweet that revealed the cover of the upcoming album.[9] On September 26, West released a 39-second snippet of a new track titled "Believe What I Say" to his Twitter account. On October 16, West released a song titled "Nah Nah Nah", calling it his presidential campaign's theme song. On November 13, West released a remix of "Nah Nah Nah" featuring rappers DaBaby and 2 Chainz, with verses from all artists being censored. Both the original song and its remix feature various references to his presidential run. On November 23, rapper Consequence expressed enthusiasm towards the album, describing it as "fire".[10]
On March 7, 2021, Cyhi the Prynce stated in an interview with VladTV that West had once again begun working on his upcoming album amid his divorce with Kim Kardashian.[11] On July 17, Consequence created a post on Instagram which depicted West in the studio with Tyler, the Creator. The caption of the post suggested an album release date late 2021.[12] On July 18, podcaster Justin Laboy claimed that West had finished the album and that West personally played the album for him and basketball player Kevin Durant the day before. Laboy called the production "light years ahead of its time".[13][14]
On July 19, 2021, Pusha T announced on Instagram that West would be holding a listening event for the album on July 22 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.[15]
On July 20, 2021, Beats Electronics premiered a commercial featuring athlete Sha'Carri Richardson during game six of the 2021 NBA Finals, edited and scored by West using the track "No Child Left Behind". French musician Gesaffelstein later stated that he produced the song featuring Cory Henry on organ. Immediately following the commercial's debut, Def Jam Recordings confirmed the album's July 23 release date, revealing the listening event in Atlanta would be globally live-streamed by Apple Music.[16]