Kanye West may be a divisive artist, but it would appear that at least some of his more vocal critics are still tuning in regardless. Such tends to be the case when an artist reaches a certain level of notoriety, and with nine consecutive number albums to his name, it's safe to say that Kanye West has reached that particular zenith.
At the end of August, Yeezy delivered his tenth studio album DONDA on a Sunday morning. While thematically appropriate to be sure, the unconventional release date prevented Kanye from benefitting from a full first week of sales. Still, the spiritually-charged album was a commercial juggernaut regardless, officially moving 309,000 album-equivalent units on the U.S charts and securing himself the biggest album debut of the year.
Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images
Now, another week has passed, and Akademiks has provided an update on Kanye West's DONDA momentum. This time, in lieu of an abridged period, we're looking at the first full week of DONDA's life cycle. Though its momentum has faded slightly, as expected, Kanye still turned in an impressive haul of 130k album-equivalent units. As Ak notes, that would bring his total twelve-day tally to 439k album-equivalent units.
It should be interesting to see if DONDA can retain its momentum; though the album has seen a fair amount of acclaim from both fans and critics alike, replay value takes time to reveal itself. It's likely that the arrival of an official single -- confirmed to be "Hurricane" with The Weeknd and Lil Baby -- will help in that regard.
Be sure to keep an eye on the charts for further updates, especially if you're invested in the ongoing rivalry between Kanye and Drake, both of whom appear to see the sales numbers are another means of oneupsmanship.
Are you still keeping DONDA on rotation?