According to Billboard, there is no way to track the sales of Kanye West’s February 23rd release Donda 2. The album was available only via West’s Stem Player, which had to be purchased from West for $200. Billboard considers the Stem Player/Donda 2 combination as a merchandise bundle, therefore it is not eligible for chart consideration.
Kanye claimed on an Instagram posting that he earned $1.3 million in the first 24 hours after the release of the player. The Stem Player is about the size of a hockey puck and allows listeners to remix songs and upload music via USB. The player reportedly comes loaded with Kanye’s 2019 album Jesus Is King, last year’s Donda and Donda 2. Billboard and MRC (previously Nielsen) plan to monitor the evolution of the player it relates to eligibility on the charts.
Last year’s Donda was the year’s top single week release as of August 29 when it was released, moving 309,00 equivalent album units according to MRC data.