Kanye West's 'Donda' Scores 2nd Biggest Spotify Debut Of All-Time
Kanye West‘s Donda is already enjoying huge success despite the seemingly endless delays leading up to its surprise release on Sunday (August 29).
According to Chart Data, Kanye’s long-awaited tenth studio album racked up almost 100 million global streams on Spotify in its first 24 hours, which marks the second biggest album debut ever on the streaming platform.
The top spot belongs to Kanye’s current bitter rival Drake, whose Scorpion album was streamed 132 million times in one day upon its release in June 2018. Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys previously held the No. 2 spot with 79 million first-day streams.
.@kanyewest’s 'DONDA' earned almost 100 million first day streams on the global Spotify chart, the second biggest album debut of all-time.
— chart data (@chartdata) August 30, 2021
There’s one song on Donda that is proving to be especially popular. Chart Data also reports the album’s second track, “Jail” featuring JAY-Z and Francis and the Lights, has debuted at No. 1 on the US Spotify Chart with 4.277 million streams, the biggest debut of any song in 2021 so far.
Premiered during Kanye’s first Donda listening session in July, “Jail” sent rap fans into a frenzy as it signalled a long-awaited reunion between Kanye West and JAY-Z — with a Watch The Throne sequel possibly on the way. “This might be the return of The Throne,” Hov teased in his verse.
.@kanyewest, Jay-Z and Francis and the Lights' "Jail" debuts at #1 on the US Spotify chart with 4.277 million streams. The #1 biggest debut for any song this year.
— chart data (@chartdata) August 30, 2021
It isn’t just on Spotify where Donda is enjoying immediate success. According to Chart Data, Kanye’s latest effort has also broken the record for topping the Apple Music chart in the most countries.
The album is currently No. 1 on Apple Music in 130 countries, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Brazil and Australia. Meanwhile, “Jail” currently occupies the top spot on Apple Music’s US singles chart.
.@kanyewest's 'DONDA' breaks the record as the album to hit #1 in the most countries in Apple Music history.
— chart data (@chartdata) August 30, 2021
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In addition to JAY-Z and Francis and the Lights, the lengthy, 27-track Donda features guest appearances from The Weeknd, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Pop Smoke, DaBaby, The LOX, Playboi Carti, Baby Keem and many more.
Shortly after Donda‘s unexpected arrival on August 29, though, Kanye claimed Universal had released the album without his approval and blocked the DaBaby collaboration “Jail Pt. 2.” As of press time, Donda remains available on streaming platforms, albeit in clean format.