DONDA is coming for the No. 1 spot.
After much anticipation, Kanye West’s 10th studio album finally arrived Sunday and is already putting up big numbers. According to preliminary estimates from HITS Daily Double, the 27-track set is expected to debut with around 300,000 units in its first week. That would give it the biggest sales week of 2021, outperforming Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour, which opened with 295,000 units.
Since DONDA was released on Sunday, which is typically the lowest streaming day of the week, that number could increase even more.
.@kanyewest's #DONDA headed for #1 debut on the US albums chart with 300K+ first week, headed for biggest 2021 debut. More updates through the week (via @HITSDD).
— chart data (@chartdata) August 30, 2021
DONDA is currently No. 1 on Spotify and has topped the Apple Music charts in over 130 countries, the most No. 1 entries in history.
.@kanyewest’s “Donda” is OFFICIALY the album with the most #1’s in @AppleMusic’s history. pic.twitter.com/fN3kX8ZaZk
— Kanye West Charts (@kwcharts) August 30, 2021
The long-delayed album finally arrived on Sunday, two days after Kanye’s listening event at Chicago’s Soldier Field, featuring appearances from JAY-Z, The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Young Thug, Don Toliver, Roddy Ricch, Lil Yachty, and more.
Kanye claimed that his label, Universal Music Group, released the album without his approval and that they tried to stop him from releasing “Jail pt 2” with DaBaby. However, the song was later added to streaming services.
After the album’s release, Chris Brown blasted Ye, calling him a “whole hoe” after he removed him from “New Again.” Soulja Boy also ripped Ye, claiming that he didn’t use his verse on “Remote Control.”