Kanye West Breaks Apple Music Streaming Record Held By Jeezy Verzuz Gucci

Kanye West breaks–and almost doubles–Apple Music’s global streaming record, which was previously held by the Verzuz battle between Gucci Mane and Jeezy.

Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty

Kanye West always draws numbers no matter what he’s attached to, regardless of whether its clothing, sneakers, or music. This power is what has made him a billionaire and one of the greatest artists of a generation.

This past Thursday, he held his DONDA listening event at the Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta. The performance let Kanye showcase his latest musical effort in front of a sold out crowd that only had 2 days notice to be a part of the event. During the evening, he didn’t say one word and let the music speak for itself.

While he sold out the stadium, TMZ, is reporting that’s not the most impressive feat of the night, with the Apple Music streaming numbers being the most shocking part of the post-event calculations.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Ye’s album event this past week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta broke the Apple Music Global Livestream record … with 3.3 million viewers who tuned in on their screens.

That’s a heck of a lot more than the previous record, we’re told, which was set by Gucci Mane and Jeezy in their highly-anticipated Verzuz battle earlier last year — at a reported 1.8 million viewers. Kanye practically doubled the number as a solo act!

BTW, the ‘DONDA’ moment was a one-time deal — meaning it aired live for people to stream, but hasn’t gone back up on Apple for folks to watch again. So, that figure — 3.3M unique sets of eyeballs — is a one and done. It’d be a little harder to calculate if the thing was in circulation.

While the album still hasn’t released and the replay hasn’t been posted on Apple Music, the thought of those numbers could lead to a big first week for Ye. Rumors suggest he may give the listening session one more go in NYC this week, which could pull even more eyes to see what additions have been added to the project.