How Many Rap Artists Went Diamond

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In today’s music world not so many artists are selling what they use to. In the past many major artists were able to achieve diamond selling status. Now things have changed since the advent of the internet.

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Less physical copies of albums are being sold and more digital sales have increased. People are consuming music differently now and record labels are still trying to keep up with and adjust to that change.

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Today I will address all the rappers who went diamond and what it takes to reach that prestigious status in music.

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What Does Going Diamond In Music Mean

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Many artists ask “How many rap albums do you have to sell to go diamond?” And this is a valid question because most artist want to achieve this rare status of album sales. Again, not many rappers or even bands achieve this status of sales any more. But the answer is 10 million records. You have to sell 10 million albums in order to go diamond.

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What Does A Rapper Have To Do To Go Diamond

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In my opinion a rapper has to make a good body of work, collaborate with the right musicians, and market the project well in order to go diamond. you need a couple of hits on the album. In today’s world music sales are mostly single driven. Meaning that record labels try to push for the hottest single to sell and ride the wave of that single if it does.

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People rarely care for a full body of work anymore, the want hot singles to listen to on their way to work or school. This doesn’t mean you as an artist shouldn’t strive to make a great album, just be aware of the music climate we are in and what motives drive sales.

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How Many Rappers Have Went Diamond

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Only 7 rap albums can officially lay claim to the diamond status. This is according to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) who are in charge of giving out the certification.

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Here are the 7 rap Albums that went certified diamond:

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• MC Hammer – Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em
• 2 Pac – All Eyez On Me
• 2 Pac – Greatest Hits
• Notorius B.I.G. – Life After Death
• Eminem – The Eminem Show
• Eminem – The Marshal Mathers EP
• Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

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The First Rapper To Go Diamond

It may be a surprise to some of you who are in their teens and early 20’s, but the first rapper to ever go diamond was Mc Hammer in 1990, with his album ‘Please Hammer Don’t Hurt `Em.’

Most people reading this will shrug it off and say that he is the least impressive artist on the list, but he wouldn’t of sold over 10 million records if people weren’t into his music back then.

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He wasn’t the most lyrical he was more of a party/entertaining artist. No matter what you want to say, Hammer definitely had hits, and the dance moves to back it up lol.

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The Last Rap Album To Go Diamond

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The last rap album to go platinum was Speakerboxxx/Love Down Below by rap duo Outkast. It was released in 2003 under record labels La Face/Arista.