Kanye West’s Donda amasses over 60 million streams on Apple Music on the first day

Donda also pulled in more than 94 million global streams on Spotify

Kanye West’s new album Donda has amassed more than 60 million streams on Apple Music in the US on the first day of its release.

The much-anticipated and heavily delayed album was released on Sunday 29 August and set a 2021 record for the global streaming service.

Donda pulled in the third highest number of streams ever to be recorded on the platform in the span of 24 hours.

It follows after J. Cole’s 2018 album KOD, which amassed 64.5 million streams within 24 hours, and Drake’s 2016 album Views with about 63.5 million streams.

Donda also topped a record 152 countries on Apple Music’s charts on the first day, while occupying 19 of the Top 20 spots on its Daily Top 100 Global songs chart.

The album also earned more than 94 million worldwide stream on Spotify, the second-most all-time for the streamer.

On Monday (30 August), one day after the album was dropped, Ye claimed that his label, Universal Music Group, released his 10th studio album without his approval and “blocked” a song from being on the record.

Kanye West at second Donda listening party (Apple Music)

“Universal put my album out without my approval and they blocked ‘Jail 2’ from being on the album,” he wrote.

The track in question features contributions from DaBaby and Marilyn Manson.

Both Manson and DaBaby’s involvement on Donda has caused controversy. Manson is currently facing multiple lawsuits from women who have accused him of sexual assault and abuse. He has denied all allegations.

DaBaby was condemned over a string of homophobic remarks he made at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami last month. The rapper initially apologised before deleting his apology. He has since appeared to mock the notion that he is being “cancelled” over his remarks.

West had earlier claimed that DaBaby’s manager, Arnold Taylor, was preventing his feature from being cleared and was failing to answer calls from West or his team.

Taylor denied this, stating that he had not received any calls from West and that he cleared the song within “two seconds” of receiving it”.

Despite West’s claims, “Jail 2” has since appeared on streaming services along with the rest of his album.

Other artists to feature on the album include The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Kid Cudi, Jay Electronica and Young Thug.

Donda was released following Ye’s third listening party in Chicago, where he brought DaBaby and Manson on stage. During the event, the rapper also re-enacted his 2014 marriage with former partner Kim Kardashian during a play of the track “No Child Left Behind”.

The album is named after West’s mother, Donda West, who died in 2007 aged 58.

Read The Independent’s review of the album here.