Kanye West’s Donda (Def Jam/Universal) is a force on this week’s ARIA charts, as it blasts to No. 1 on the national albums survey and a record-setting 19 tracks from it flood the singles tally.
Delayed by more than a year, Donda is an immediate hit as it debuts at the summit of the Australian albums chart. It’s Kanye’s fourth leader, following Yeezus (June 2013), Ye (June 2018) and Jesus Is King (Nov. 2019).
More than half the album’s 27 tracks impact the ARIA Singles Chart, including three in the Top 10, “Hurricane – Version 2” at No. 4, “Jail” at No. 5, and “Off The Grid” at No. 9.
With his singles chart feat, West eclipses Taylor Swift’s old mark of 16 debuts in the Top 50 set in August 2020.
Also, he nabs the record for most tracks in the Top 50 in any one week, a record previously held by Post Malone and Michael Jackson, with 17 each.
With Kanye ruling the ARIA Albums Chart, Aussie hip-hop outfit Bliss N Eso bows at No. 2 with The Sun (Liberation/Universal), their first album in four years. Featuring collaborations with Chillinit, Dizzee Rascal and Kasey Chambers, it’s the followup to Off the Grid, a chart leader back in 2017.
Meanwhile, Halsey bags her fourth Top 10 with her new album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power (Capitol/Universal). Halsey’s previous LP, 2020’s Manic, peaked at No. 2.
Scottish electronic-pop trio Chvrches tune in for a third Top 10 with Screen Violence (Liberator/Universal), new at No. 4, while OneRepublic earn a fourth Top 10 with Human (Interscope/Universal), new at No. 10.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber enter an eighth week at No. 1 with “Stay” (Columbia/Sony).
It’s the longest running leader this year, and its healthy run places Laroi (real name Charlton Howard) in some rare company.
“Stay” is now in third place for the most weeks at No. 1 by an Australian artist on the ARIA Singles Chart, joining 5 Seconds Of Summer’s “Youngblood” (from 2018), Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” (2011), Savage Garden’s “Truly Madly Deeply” (1997) and Austen Tayshus’ comedy classic “Australiana” (1983).
