Kanye West's "DONDA" Listening Party Breaks Apple Music Record

BYAron A.4.2K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Kanye West's "DONDA" listening party breaks Apple Music's Global Livestream record previously held by Gucci Mane and Jeezy's "Verzuz."

Fans are still eagerly anticipating the release of a new album DONDA from Kanye West that he initially announced would arrive on Friday morning, following its debut at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The rapper's latest body of work was apparently incomplete at the time of its premiere but many feel it's Kanye's most compelling body of work to come out in the past few years. It's an odd rollout, even for Kanye West. He stood in the center of the arena with a mask on, without a word being said, and allowed the music to play front to back.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images 

The Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Kanye West has temporarily set up his living quarters to finish the album, was sold out for 'Ye's listening party. However, beyond the 40,000+ people that were physically present, millions more were hovered over their laptop or smartphone tuning in to hear what 'Ye's been cooking up this whole time. According to TMZ, the DONDA listening party shattered Apple Music's Global Livestream record with upwards of 3.3M viewers. The record was previously held by Gucci Mane and Jeezy's "Verzuz" last year who had 1.8M viewers on Apple Music in total.

Though DONDA isn't on streaming services yet, fans received an update from Justin LaBoy who said Kanye West's new album is set to drop on August 6th. Let's hope that the release date holds up this time.

 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
...