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Kanye West's highly-anticipated Donda album arrived last month, with the release honoring the rapper's late mother and his relationship with God. While West has always been known to use iconic and interesting samples throughout each of his releases, Donda features a hidden gem within the track "Come to Life" – a piano sample from a New York sixth grader, Zen Micheline Hung.
According to Billboard, Hung's sample comes in at around the 2:15 mark, and the sixth-grader had performed at one of West's listening events in promotion of the album. Hung's piano interlude is featured prominently in Donda's 22nd track, with the sixth-grader carrying her piece through to the end of "Come to Life."
The Kaufman Music Center revealed that Hung was the student behind the sample earlier this week, the school additionally sharing a clip of Hung performing the piece at an even younger age. Hung is instructed by Genia Betman, who had formerly been a faculty member at the Brooklyn Conservatory, Georgian State Conservatory, and the Special Music School of the Conservatory, Tbilisi.
Donda also included samples from the likes of Lauryn Hill to Liquid Liquid, with verses from Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, the Weeknd, Travis Scott, Fivio Foreign, and a sample from West's late mother, Donda. Hung remains in good company with the Donda tracklisting, and has a bright future ahead of her.
West's 10th studio album had been a long-time coming, with fans initially expecting Donda to be released in the summer of 2020. The record had been pushed back several times prior to it finally being released last month, with West hosting several listening events and spending a month living in Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium until the project was completed.