Kanye West's 'Donda' Sets 2021 Apple Music Record With 60 Million First-Day Streams

Kanye West's latest album has achieved a new high for most streamed pop album of 2021 on Apple Music after its delayed release on Sunday (via Billboard). "Donda" set a record for the most streams in a 24-window on the service this year, pulling in over 60 million plays in the United States.

kanye west
That makes "Donda" the third-most streamed album ever in the first 24 hours of a release. West's album also topped ‌Apple Music‌'s top albums charts in 152 countries in the same time span, setting another record.

J Cole's 2018 album "KOD" sits atop ‌Apple Music‌'s all-time debut chart with 64.5 million streams, followed by Drake's "Views," which courted around 63.5 million streams.

Following the arrival of "Donda" at the weekend, West claimed in an Instagram post that Universal, the parent company for Def Jam Recordings and West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint, put the album out without his approval.

The album was originally supposed to arrive in late July, but West delayed it to August 6, then again to August 22, before the album eventually appeared on ‌Apple Music‌ and Spotify the following week.

West held a public listening party for the album on July 22 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Itended up breaking ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ livestreaming records with 3.3 million viewers tuning in. Even more ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ listeners participated in a second streaming event, which was held in Atlanta on August 5.

Popular Stories

apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iphone 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report. Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain. Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...
top stories 2025 07 12

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, iOS 26 Beta 3, and More

Saturday July 12, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
The iOS 26 public beta release is quickly approaching, while developers have recently gotten their hands on a third round of betas that has seen Apple continue to tweak features, design, and functionality. We're also continuing to hear rumors about the iPhone 17 lineup that is now just about right around the corner, while Apple's latest big-budget film appears to be taking off, so read on...
11th gen ipad blue

Apple to Launch New Low-Cost 11-Inch iPad in the Spring

Friday July 11, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will launch a new 12th generation entry-level iPad in the spring of next year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is said to have two versions of the entry-level 11-inch iPad in development, codenamed J581 and J582. These could refer to different storage capacities – in which case, Apple may be planning to drop the existing lowest capacity option. The current iPad 11 is...

Top Rated Comments

PlainviewX Avatar
51 months ago
32,000,000 were Kanye listening to himself.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WikiWikiWikiLeaks Avatar
51 months ago
I think I will have scrambled eggs with avocado this morning.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gymnastboatman Avatar
51 months ago

Hype over quality I heard the album and honestly it’s not good in anyway, but the hype as always sets records, it’s not about making a good album anymore
You mean you didn’t think it wasn’t good. I quite liked it, though I think I still prefer God is King. It’s just not getting coverage because it’s still a very Christian album, even though it isn’t a ‘Christian album’ like God is King was.

Obviously lots of people did like it, to get that many streams.
Or, alternatively, a ton of people wanted to see what Kanye would do after God is King. Lot of us around the world are excited to see Kanye’s conversion play out.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
51 months ago
Hype over quality I heard the album and honestly it’s not good in anyway, but the hype as always sets records, it’s not about making a good album anymore
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HappyDude20 Avatar
51 months ago
It’s absurd how overrated Kanye is and has been for a looooooong while now.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Doodah7 Avatar
51 months ago
It's a bloated, over-produced mess. If only he had someone to stand up to him and say that half of the album is simply filler rubbish. 1hour and 45 minutes!! Cut that in half and it the album might bear a second listen.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)