Kanye West and his long-awaited new album “Donda” are already breaking records on Apple Music.
The album, which dropped by surprise on Sunday, set a new record by reaching No. 1 on Apple Music’s Top Albums chart in 152 countries in 24 hours. According to Apple, in the album’s first full day of release, “Donda” was streamed over 60 million times in the U.S.
Of the top 20 spots on Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 Global songs chart, 19 were from “Donda,” which boasts an expansive 27 song tracklist. West and “Donda” also broke the 2021 record for being the most-streamed artist and album in one day, and “Donda” became the third most-played album on its first day of release on Apple Music ever.
Today, Spotify announced that “Donda” broke the record for the most-streamed album in a day so far in 2021, beating Olivia Rodrigo.
In anticipation of the album, West hosted three live listening parties, two in Atlanta and one in Chicago.
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West said Sunday that Universal Music Group released “Donda” against his wishes, but a source at the company told Variety that the accusation was “preposterous.”
At his third “Donda” release event, West brought out Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, both of whom feature on the track “Jail Pt. 2.” Manson has denied multiple women’s accusations of sexual assault, and DaBaby made headlines earlier this month after multiple festivals dropped him following homophobic remarks he made at the Rolling Loud festival.
In Variety‘s review of the album, critic Chris Willman called “Donda” “overstuffed” but praised “Come to Life” as potentially “the best thing he’s ever done — certainly… the most beautiful.”
