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Kanye West’s “Donda” Debuts At No. 1 On US Billboard

By Michael Bamidele

07 September 2021   |   8:59 am

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Kanye West’s Donda has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the biggest week for any album release this year, according to Billboard. The album landed at the top of the charts with 309,000 equivalent album units. “Donda” was released on Sunday 29th of August after West’s third listening party, a Chicago event…

Kanye West at ‘DONDA by Kanye West’ listening event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on July 22, 2021 in Atlanta. | Image: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Music Group

Kanye West’s Donda has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the biggest week for any album release this year, according to Billboard.

The album landed at the top of the charts with 309,000 equivalent album units.

“Donda” was released on Sunday 29th of August after West’s third listening party, a Chicago event that controversially featured appearances from Marilyn Manson and DaBaby. The album racked up more than 775 million global streams, with more than 442 million on Spotify and 242 million on Apple Music worldwide, according to the record label.

Guest credits on “Donda” include Jay Z, Chris Brown, the Weeknd, Jay Electronica, the Lox, Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Kid Cudi, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, Baby Keem, Playboi Carti, and Fivio Foreign.

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With Donda, Kanye West has once again tied Eminem for the record of most No. 1 debuts in a row on the albums chart, too. Eminem broke the tie in early 2020 with Music to Be Murdered By. Both artists have only missed No. 1 once — with their respective debut albums.

West has become one of only seven artists in chart history to release 10 chart-topping albums. In the 65-year history of the Billboard 200 chart, The Beatles have had the most No. 1 albums with 19, followed by Jay-Z with 14, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand with 11, and Eminem, Elvis Presley and West with 10.

Donda also gave him the largest streaming week for an album in 2021, surpassing J. Cole’s The Off-Season.

The album is named after West’s mother Dr. Donda C. West (née Williams), who died at 58 in November 2007.