Kanye West is causing a lot of fan discussion over his new album Bully, whether for it's chaotic rollout or its sonic direction. But it seems like this conversation manifested itself into a promising commercial performance, as Ye's new LP is garnering more attention than his last release.
According to Kurrco on Instagram, the new project amassed 33.2 million streams in total across all its tracks on Spotify in the first 24 hours of its release. This tops the number set by Vultures 2 a few years ago. The Ty Dolla $ign collab record sequel amassed 24.7 million Spotify streams in the same timeframe.
Of course, that technically wasn't Kanye's last streaming release. He rereleased Donda 2 on there years after its exclusive Stem Player drop, but the numbers there are less clear. Even with this promising improvement from Vultures 2, though, Bully doesn't match the massive attention that previous records like the first Vultures and the first Donda got earlier in the 2020s.
Nevertheless, these first day Bully streams show that the Chicago artist still commands attention on impact. What remains on the table is whether or not this early performance will translate into impressive first week sales numbers.
Where Did Kanye West Release Bully?
The release of Kanye West's Bully was unsurprisingly rocky, as the album was only available via a YouTube livestream on the day it was supposed to come out (Friday, March 27). Then, the next day (Saturday, March 28), Ye dropped the whole thing on Spotify. But it took a couple of hours more to hit Apple Music, where it eventually landed at number one on their United States album charts across all genres.
Also, fans are breaking down the meaning behind Kanye West's Bully. In an alleged text from 2024, Ye explained the title and his intent.
"The next album is called BULLY," he allegedly wrote. "Sometime you the BULLY. Sometimes your partner is the BULLY. Your boss. Your kids. Society. The devil. Even God can be your BULLY. God Why you beating me down like this ... So nothing directly about me. Something a high school [kid] can relate to."
