“Junya, Pt. 2” by Kanye West (ft. Playboi Carti & Ty Dolla $ign)

The original Junya, belonging to the same album as this second part, is a song we’ve already covered. The conclusion was that whereas the song was named after one Junya Watanabe, the focus was more on Kanye (and Playboi Carti) himself, with Junya being one of the more secular tracks featured on Donda. And the difference with this re-rendering of the original is that it features less Yeezy and more Playboi Carti, as well Ty Dolla $ign being added to the mix.

Kanye West

Part two also starts off with Kanye’s vocals, again being quite braggadocious in comparison with the totality of Donda. He speaks of running with “45 gunners” and ‘buying out stores’. And when dealing with superstars such as Yeezus, we don’t know if he means purchasing every item in a shop or being so wealthy and influential that the entire store would close just to accommodate him. But either way, this statement is simply meant to illustrate that he’s F-ing rich.

Playboi Carti

Playboi Carti verse commences as it did in the original, with him alluding to the potency of individuals, such as himself and Kanye, who have been dominating “for five summers”, i.e. five years. We are presuming that’s more of a figurative number considering how long Kanye has now been an A+ lister. But either way, Playboi himself goes about proving the point by presenting a rap which, most simply put, is about him and West being rich and trendy. Indeed even their team-up, being rap superstars representing two different generations, is a major occasion.

Ty Dolla $ign

Meanwhile Ty Dolla $ign’s verse is more multi-subjected, though of course all pointing back to his own lofty standing. For instance, he not only namedrops Junya Watanabe but also another high-end Japanese fashion designer, Jun Takahashi, alluding to his wherewithal to patronize such products. Later in the verse, the rapper retains the Asian motif, if you will, to note that he and his crew “don’t do karate”. Or translated into layman’s terms, they’d quicker resort to firearms than hand-to-hand combat.

The passage eventually concludes with Ty giving a couple of more shoutouts to Watanabe as well as one of his American counterparts, Mike Amiri – another dude who you’d have to be holding something like $1,000 to even think about purchasing one of his products. 

And even though Dolla doesn’t proceed to namedrop Yeezy, as did Playboi Carti, of course Kanye himself is yet another fashion designer whose wares are known to cost more than the average person can comfortably afford. So reading in between the lines, it’s like the homeys spend a substantial amount of bread on pricey clothing.

Ty Dolla $ign also mentions God twice, once in his verse and again in the outro. And the intended point in that regard is to imply that the aforementioned lifestyle is made possible by the vocalist(s) being favored by a higher power. Also, as featured in the outro especially, said reference makes this song more compliant with the overall Donda project, which is filled with acknowledgements of the Most High.

Song Details

Primary Artist(s): Kanye West
Featured Artist(s): Playboi Carti & Ty Dolla $ign
Released: 29/08/2021

Credits for “Junya, Pt. 2”

“Junya, Pt. 2” was written by Kanye, $ign and Carti with assistance from several others, including:

• Raul Cubina
• Roark Bailey
• Mark Williams
• Digital Nas

It was produced by West, Roark Bailey, Digital Nas and Ojivolta.