Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ debuts at number-one on the Billboard 200 and achieves a rare feat

Kanye West‘s “Donda” was released on Sunday, August 29, after several weeks of anticipation, listening events, and rumored release dates. Its launch date was two days into the tracking week for the Billboard 200 (which started on Friday, August 27), but despite having less time to rack up listens, it debuted at number-one on the chart and had a bigger week than any other album this year so far (which will probably change with Drake‘s “Certified Lover Boy” just released). It also made history for West.

Despite mixed reactions from critics and music fans, “Donda” earned 309,000 equivalent album units, which are calculated by combining traditional album sales, individual track sales, and online streams. The vast majority of those units were from streaming, marking the year’s biggest streaming week for an album. And on top of that, it’s West’s 10th album in a row to reach the top spot, which makes him one of only seven artists to achieve 10 or more chart-toppers. He joins The Beatles (19), Jay-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen (11), Barbra Streisand (11), Eminem (10), and Elvis Presley (10).

Halsey‘s “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power” debuted at number-two with 98,000 album units, most of which were album sales, which makes it the week’s top-selling album even though it fell far behind “Donda’s” streams. Olivia Rodrigo‘s “Sour” came in at number-three with 74,000 units after topping last week’s chart. Doja Cat‘s “Planet Her” was number-four with 53,000 units, and The Kid LAROI‘s “F*ck Love” came in fifth with 44,000 units. Were you one of the many who had “Donda” on repeat this past week?

Be sure to make your predictions so that artists can see how they’re faring in our racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the next tracking week begins every Friday. You’ll compete to win a spot on our leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our music forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.

More News from GoldDerby

Loading