A number of chart-busting rappers have gone Diamond in their careers, selling over 10 million copies of a single or album.
The RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) gives diamond certifications to individual songs or albums that have gone ten times platinum – that means selling ten million copies after its release.
Around 120 songs throughout music history have been Certified Diamond so far, with 25 of those artists registering multiple tracks or albums on the list.
It is a rare feat for a rap act to achieve diamond certification even once in their career, with either a single track or an entire album. So for some of the elite talents within the genre to boast multiple works that have sold over ten million copies is truly impressive.
Let’s find out more about some of the hugely successful rappers who went diamond.
20. Fetty Wap
Fetty Wap received diamond certification in November 2019 with the track ‘Trap Queen.’
This debut single from the rapper’s self-titled debut record propelled Fetty Wap into the limelight The track has over twelve million sales to date.
‘Trap Queen’ is considered a sleeper hit, becoming Fetty Wap’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming a top ten hit which eventually peaked at number two. The song spent 25 consecutive weeks in the top ten.
Despite the resounding success of ‘Trap Queen,’ the rapper currently has no albums in his discography that have achieved diamond status.
19. Travis Scott
To date, controversial rapper Travis Scott cannot lay claim to a diamond certified album. Yet Scott is the proud owner of a single that went on to sell over ten million times.
Featuring rap megastar Drake, Scott’s arguably signature track ‘Sicko Mode’ – which was produced in 2018 – achieved its diamond status just two years later in 2020.
In 2021, Scott hit the headlines once again, but for different reasons. He became embroiled in controversy after a fatal crowd crush during the first night of the Astroworld Festival.
Tragically, the festival, which was founded by Scott, saw eight people dying on the night and two more in the hospital over the following days.
18. Lil Baby
In September 2022, four years after its release, Lil Baby’s song ‘Drip Too Hard’ became just the 86th song in history to be certified diamond.
Originally released in 2018, and featured on the album Drip Harder, the track eventually peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and also received a Grammy nomination.
Lil Baby is yet to see an album achieve diamond certification.
17. Wiz Khalifa
American rapper Wiz Khalifa has released over 80 singles, but one has been certified diamond. The song ‘See You Again’ featuring Charlie Puth clocked up over ten million sales in 2019.
The song was produced as part of the Furious 7 soundtrack from 2015’s instalment of The Fast and the Furious franchise. It is one of the most-streamed rap music videos of all time.
The song also painted as a fitting tribute to lead actor Paul Walker who tragically died in a car crash back in 2013.
None of Wiz Khalifa’s seven studio albums have yet been certified diamond.
16. Future
American Rapper and singer Future is yet to produce a diamond certified album, but he has seen one of his singles adorned with the prestigious label.
His track ‘Life Is Good’ featuring Drake gained diamond status back in November 2021. Its music video has claimed accolades including the BET Hip-Hop Award for Best Hip-Hop Video and a Clio Music Award for Film and Video.
The song continues to be a sensation on YouTube in particular, and has amassed over two billion views worldwide.
15. Roddy Ricch
Roddy Ricch’s track ‘The Box’ initially spent eleven months on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart before eventually blowing up and going viral through social media platform TikTok.
Released in 2019, the song received its diamond certification in December 2021, finally surpassing the ten million sales mark.
Interestingly, just a year later towards the end of 2022, it was announced that Roddy Ricch was being sued for copyright infringement.
He was accused of ripping off the 1975 song ‘Come On Down (Get Your Heads Out Of The Clouds)’ by Greg Perry.
14. Juice WRLD
Juice WRLD was already becoming a big star before his untimely death in 2019. Tragically, he died of an drug accidental overdose on board a private jet.
Juice was a pioneer within the emo rap and Soundcloud rap era that still influences artists today.
His track ‘Lucid Dreams’ received diamond certification in February 2022. It was officially released as the lead single from his 2018 debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance, and samples Sting’s 1993 hit ‘Shape of My Heart.’
The song debuted at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked in second spot, and has accumulated over 1.8 billion streams on Spotify alone.
13. XXXTentacion
Released in 2018, the late XXXTentacion’s song ‘Sad’ became officially diamond certified in August 2021.
It was his highest charting track in the United States, and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has amassed more than two billion streams on Spotify and is one of the most streamed songs on the platform.
The rapper and singer was tragically shot and killed outside of a motor sports store in Deerfield Beach, Florida on the afternoon of 18 June 2018.
An attacker opened fire and struck the artist before quickly driving away. The young rapper was taken to a local hospital but pronounced dead.
12. Outkast
Hip-hip duo Outkast’s album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below has sold over eleven million copies to date.
Released in 2003, the record went diamond only a year later, thanks largely to the monstrously successful track ‘Hey Ya!’
The song ranked at number ten in Rolling Stone’s revised 2021 list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
The iconic rap duo‘s album also won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
11. Tupac Shakur
Tupac’s 1996 double-album All Eyez on Me was finally certified diamond by the RIAA in 2014.
The was album released just months before the controversial rapper and actor was shot and killed whilst leaving a high-profile boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas Valley.
Reportedly, a Cadillac pulled up alongside Tupac’s BMW and opened fire with Shakur being hit four times.
Taking eighteen years to receive the sought after status, Pac’s greatest hits collection has sold nearly eleven million copies.
10. Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj has become a female powerhouse in the world of hip-hop and mainstream music as a whole.
Although she is yet to achieve diamond certification for one of her albums, Minaj boasts one single that does.
Now over a decade old, her track ‘Super Bass’ became the 65th song to be Diamond Certified in November 2021 after finally registering over ten million sales.
The song has been widely celebrated. Its accolades include winning MTV’s Video Music Awards for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2011, and appearing on Rolling Stones‘ “500 Best Songs of All Time.”
9. Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X’s sensational ‘Old Town Road’ is highly notable as a diamond certified single, and amongst the top-selling songs to have reached the landmark.
Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, the country rap track became the fastest song in music history to surpass the ten million sales milestone in 2019.
The song managed to achieve diamond status less than a year after it was released. It has since gone on to sell an incredible 18 million copies to date.
8. Lauryn Hill
In February 2021, more than 20 years after its release, Lauryn Hill’s groundbreaking album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was finally certified diamond.
Back in 2001, the record debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, making her the first solo female rapper to reach number one on the ranking.
She remains the only female rapper to sell over ten million copies of an album within the genre of hip-hop.
To this day, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – the artist’s first and only solo album – remains one of the best-selling and most-celebrated hip-hop records of all time.
7. The Notorious B.I.G
Rap legend The Notorious B.I.G became the third ever hip-hop artist to achieve a diamond certified album in 2000.
His cult classic record, Life After Death is the second and final studio album by the American rap don, which was released in March 1997.
The record coincided with the rapper’s tragic murder, the accused rolling down his window before drawing a 9mm pistol and firing at Biggie’s SUV with four bullets hitting him.
Just three years after its release, the album sold more than ten million copies to secure its status as a bonafide diamond record.
6. Kanye West
Kanye West remains one of the most successful artists of the twenty-first century so far.
Perhaps surprisingly, none of his best-selling albums have yet hit diamond status. But the artist boasts a pair of hit songs that have sold over ten million copies.
His first behemoth of a track ‘Stronger’ was certified diamond in October 2021. The song’s genius is in part the inclusion of a Daft Punk sample, with the tune featuring on one of his finest albums, Graduation.
West’s second diamond certification is his 2011 record ‘Ni**as In Paris.’ The track was crafted alongside Jay-Z more than a decade ago, and has now officially earned Diamond certification.
5. MC Hammer
In April 1991, MC Hammer’s third album Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em became the first rap record in history to achieve diamond certified status.
The album’s success was propelled by the inclusion of smash hit single ‘U Can’t Touch This,’ which topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, and peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.
Released in 1990, Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em saw massive commercial success and went on to sell over 14 million copies worldwide within a year.
4. Cardi B
Cardi B’s hugely successful track ‘Bodak Yellow’ saw her become the first female rapper to receive the prestigious diamond certification for a single.
The single was also nominated for a Grammy in 2018, but it ultimately failed to win the accolade. Yet her hit album Invasion of Privacy, which included the diamond certified track ‘Bodak Yellow’, managed to scoop the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2019.
Since then, Cardi B has secured two further diamond-certified songs including ‘I Like It’ featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny, and also the track ‘Girls Like You.’
3. Eminem
Rap superstar Eminem has achieved diamond status multiple times. He currently lays claim to three singles and three albums that have recorded over 10 million sales.
The rapper’s single ‘Not Afraid’ was the third song in history to be certified diamond in June 2014, followed by hit song ‘Lose Yourself.’ The track ‘Love the Way You Lie’ featuring Rihanna was also certified diamond in 2018.
To date, a trio of Eminem’s albums have also sold over ten million copies – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), The Eminem Show (2002), and, Curtain Call: The Hits (2005).
These three chart-busting albums make Eminem the rapper with the most diamond albums.
2. Drake
Rap maestro Drake has five singles in his discography that have been certified diamond. He is yet to release an album with sales over ten million units.
The Canadian rapper’s hit song ‘God’s Plan’ became the 31st in music history to be certified Diamond back in September 2019.
The rapper’s other standout tracks that have sold over ten million copies include the viral sensation ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘One Dance’ featuring WizKid and Kyla.
Both songs reached diamond status in 2022.
1. Post Malone
Post Malone currently holds the record for the rapper with most diamond singles. He has registered eight songs that have sold over ten million copies.
Post Malone’s eight diamond singles surpass even Bruno Mars’ impressive total of six tracks.
‘Congratulations’ featuring Quavo received the award back in October 2019 which was quickly followed by ‘Rockstar’ alongside 21 Savage, and then ‘Sunflower’ with Swae Lee in 2020. The latter was famously produced for the film Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.
Post Malone also saw his two songs ‘Psycho’ and ‘White Iverson’ certified diamond in November 2022.
Three more of his tracks, ‘Circles’, ‘Better Now’ and ‘I Fall Apart’ were most recently added to his list of diamond hits.
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