“Junya” is the ninth track on Kanye West’s 2021 album ‘DONDA.’ The track features vocals by Playboi Carti, marking Ye and Carti’s second-ever collaboration. The song is a dedication to the Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe, who has made a name as an experimental stylist catering to the high-end market.
‘Donda’ is Kanye West’s tenth studio album released on August 29, 2021, after being teased and delayed multiple times. Kanye West held two listening parties for the album at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta leading up to the album release, and the third party in Chicago. This track was played at the second listening party.
Junya Watanabe is a Japanese fashion designer, a protégé of Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo. He continues to work for Comme des Garcons: His atelier is located on the second floor of its Tokyo headquarters, and he produces four shows a year in Paris [Source].
In the song, Kanye West seems to rap about his Junya Watanabe-designed wristwatch, yet to be unveiled.
Listen to “Junya” by Kanye West & Playoi Carti
Kanye West “Junya” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Kanye West seems to be bragging about his stature in the rap game at this point in his career.
Junya Watanabe on my, mmh
I can’t really see, where did I miss?
Junya Watanabe fashion collections usually carry a high price tag due to their uniqueness and complexity. Even a t-shirt costs anywhere upwards from $400 to even thousands of dollars for a ladies’ skirt. So, we can only imagine how much a custom-designed wristwatch is going to be priced at.
Kanye West asks everyone to show him where has he ever missed in his career so far?! Probably no misses so far looking at the level is music career and music itself has elevated.
Verse 3
In the third verse by Playboi Carti, the rapper seems to be singing about how he was able to rule the music world for five summers, meaning five years.
The line “For five summers” caused some confusion among fans for mishearing it as “4:5 Psalms.” However, the song’s producer, Digital Nas confirmed that the lyrics were in fact “for five summers.”
Verse 4
In the fourth and final verse of the song, Kanye West sings to usher in the ‘DONDA’ era. He alludes to the fact that more comments online equal more money, that he can rake in. These comments can be bad or good; all publicity is good publicity.
Towards the latter part of the song, Kanye West seems to take shots at his enemies in the game.
Move out of the way of my release
Why can’t losers never lose in peace?
Recently, a feud broke off between Kanye West and Drake over the release dates of their 2021 albums; ‘DONDA’ and ‘Certified Lover Boy,’ respectively. West seems to diss Drake about conflicts of album release dates, that he does not know how to take an L.
On Trippie Redd’s new track “Betrayal,” Drake rapped;
All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know
Forty-five, forty-four (Burned out), let it go
‘Ye ain’t changin’ sh*t for me, it’s set in stone
Drake was most likely referring to the release dates of their albums. The beef went back and forth for a while and Kanye released ‘DONDA’ on August 29th without any prior notice. This would likely prevent this feud from escalating any further.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.
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