Kanye West's 'DONDA' Makes History With Largest Album Debut of 2021
Raking in more than 775 million global streams.
Kanye West‘s DONDA has made history as the largest debut of this year with more than 775 million global streams.
The album accumulated more than 442 million streams on Spotify and 242 million streams on Apple Music across the globe, while also setting an Apple Music all-time record after claiming No. 1 in 152 countries.
DONDA was first showcased during three listening events — two at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium and one at Chicago’s Soldier Field — which also collectively broke Apple Music’s worldwide record for largest livestream audience.
Earlier this week, the 27-track record debuted at No. 1 with a total of 309,000 equivalent album units, with 272,000 streaming equivalent units, 37,000 in album sales and just below 1,000 in track equivalent album units, according to Billboard. DONDA beat out J. Cole‘s The Off-Season as 2021’s largest streaming week for an album.
However, Ye might not hold the throne for long; Drake‘s Certified Lover Boy, released last week, is projected to surpass DONDA with the biggest debut week of 2021. The album is looking to open with a total of 575,000 to 625,000 equivalent album units with 45,000 to 55,000 in album sales, according to HITS Daily Double. If the numbers meet their forecast, Drake’s album will have had the largest debut week since Taylor Swift’s folklore in July of last year.
Elsewhere in music, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is now the fastest song to reach 2.5 billion Spotify streams.
