On Sunday (September 5), Billboard confirmed Kanye’s tenth studio effort Donda debuted at No. 1 on the chart with an estimated 327,000 total album-equivalent units. It’s Kanye’s best first week on the chart in the streaming era and best overall since 2013’s Yeezus, which debuted with over 327,000 units sold.
By comparison, his 2018 album ye debuted with roughly 208,000 total album-equivalent units earned and his 2019 gospel album Jesus Is King debuted at No. 1 with an estimated 264,000 total album-equivalent units.
The 27-song effort debuted on Sunday (August 29), a switch from the now traditional Friday release day and contained a loaded guest list, including The Weeknd, Jay Electronica, The LOX, Young Thug, the late Pop Smoke, Pusha T, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Fivio Foreign and Kid Cudi, among others.
Despite the controversy surrounding its release, including Kanye accusing Universal Music Group of releasing the album without his final approval, the album earned the second-biggest debut for an album in the history of Spotify.
