RIAA Rap Certifications
The highest RIAA-certified rappers show Drake leading at 345 million units, followed by Eminem at 236 million and Kanye West at 234 million. The rankings dominate hip-hop discussions around commercial success and industry impact.
RIAA certifications are based on "units," a figure that combines traditional sales with digital streams. For a single, 150 on-demand audio or video streams equal one unit, while for an album, it takes 1,500 streams to equal one album sale. This system was updated to reflect modern music consumption, with streams first added for singles in 2013 and for albums in 2016. The RIAA awards several tiers of achievement: Gold for 500,000 units, Platinum for 1 million, and Diamond for 10 million. The Diamond award, established in 1999, is a rare milestone in hip-hop. OutKast's 2003 double album *Speakerboxxx/The Love Below* is the best-selling rap album of all time, certified 13-times platinum. Beyond the top three, other rappers have amassed huge certification totals. Nicki Minaj became the first female rapper to surpass 100 million certified units across her albums, singles, and features. As of July 2022, Future has earned over 95 million RIAA certified units, placing him in an elite group of artists. Individual songs have also reached massive numbers. Travis Scott's "Goosebumps" featuring Kendrick Lamar is the highest-certified rap song ever at 17x-Platinum. Drake’s "God's Plan" follows at 15x-Platinum, while Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and "Love The Way You Lie" are both 13x-Platinum.
