Amid Dismal Album Sales, Google Play Gives Kanye’s ‘Yeezus’ Away for Free

Photo Credit: LittleO2
Photo Credit: LittleO2

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Kanye West’s latest album “Yeezus” is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, but it’s the rapper’s worst selling album to date. In fact, many were shocked that Hip Hop newbie J. Cole actually outsold ‘Ye with his “Born Sinner”album, and the album hasn’t managed to do more than go gold.

So perhaps just maybe that’s one of the reasons one of music’s biggest retailers has decided to give the album away to music lovers for free.

kanye's new album free

According to multiple reports, Google Play will be giving away Kanye’s latest album free of charge as part of its annual Holiday sale.

This news comes just days after Kanye told his audience at his recent Toronto show that he would be taking a break from rants for at least six months.

13 comments

  1. Well Kanye stepped out the box and did what he wanted to. It may not be selling well, but at least he didn’t let society dictate his art. I respect that.

  2. It has sold 932,000 to date that’s not dismal sales. It has outsold J Cole’s “Born Sinner” which sold 738,000.

    1. You’re incorrect. Yeezus has not sold 932,000 copies in the US. It’s only sold around 600,000 copies in the US according to the RIAA. You’re counting total world sales. And that’s not how it works. And yes, J. Cole has outsold him in the US. J. Cole has sold about 617,000 copies in the US. Kanye has gone platinum with each album EXCEPT Yeezus. So yes, DISMAL sales. Smh.

      1. I don’t think that counts as dismal..he stepped out of the box musically so of course he wouldn’t have a higher amount of album sales. Kanye has already said that the album selling or going platinum does not matter to him because he made this album out of frustration. In today’s market, hip hop albums do not sell as much–going gold if you exclude Jay, Drake, Kendrick, and Macklemore who have gone platinum out of the US sales, so for Yeezus go to gold is an accomplishment in itself. That is what I meant by it not being dismal as it is portrayed in the article and in US sales.

        1. Kanye is up there with all the rappers you just named and always pulls the big numbers they do. He’s one of the most successful artists out right now. He’s not a real Hip Hop artist to be honest. Real Hip Hop artists are expected to only go gold because whites don’t buy those albums. But whites ALWAYS buy Kanye’s albums. He always goes platinum because it’s so out the box. Yet, the album went gold in August and hasn’t done much since. That’s not impressive. That’s underperforming. We expected the album to have a different sound, that’s what Kanye does! But different doesn’t always mean good. And this time the album was bad (IMO). But you came on here posting false numbers and now you want to say Kanye only selling 600,000 copies is an accomplishment? That’s false. And if he didn’t care about how much Yeezus sold, he wouldn’t have spent all the money he did on his outrageous marketing plan. His face was literally screened on buildings throughout the world and the album didn’t even go platinum? He also said he wasn’t going to release a single, but he ended up changing his mind because the album wasn’t performing. And that video he did with Kim was a stunt to bump up sales and it didn’t help either. Even Billboard says his album sales for Yeezus are terrible. He cares, a lot being the egomaniac he is. And yes, the sales are DISMAL. If Billboard says the album underperformed, I’m going to take its word for it. It’s not the end of the world, I’m sure he will bounce back. His career is far from over.

          But you’re a real fan, so I expect you to disagree with me. That’s what fans are supposed to do. I’m the same way about Beyoncé. Lol.

          Let’s agree to disagree. Have a great weekend. 🙂

          1. lol Let’s agree to disagree over Ye. I love Bey too, she’s amazing! I hope you enjoy your weekend as well.

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