Rapper On Youtube Monetization

I don't like making my own beats. I can buy them or even use free beats, but usually they come with some type of stipulation.

E.g. You can't monetize it

My question is: Say I accept channel donations through the thanks button on each YouTube video, does that count as monetization?

My plan is to have a pinned reply on each video saying, "Donate to the channel via the thanks button".

For example, someone might not even listen to the song, they just want to help me out and use that video to complete the transaction.

Sounds simple. I am already leaning towards that it would count as monetization, but I know law is quite complex.

To summarize: my own copyrighted lyrics would be recorded over these beats. I don't plan to reproduce that track anywhere outside of YouTube.

Location: Massachusetts, location is irrelevant.