charts discussion Black Excellence: RIAA Diamond Certifications

[trainsskyscrapers]

It takes a perfect storm to amass a Diamond album/single, let alone multiple. When you add "Black Artist" to the mix, it makes things that much more difficult. Here is what the landscape looks like for Black musicians and their hit albums/singles:

 

Next Up to Diamond are:

Spoiler

- Michael Jackson (2 Diamond albums already):

Dangerous & Off The Wall

- Mariah Carey (2 Diamond albums already):

Mariah Carey & Merry Christmas

- Boyz II Men (1 Diamond album already):

Cooleyhighharmony

- Toni Braxton:

Toni Braxton & Secrets

- Destiny's Child:

The Writings On The Wall

- TLC (1 Diamond album already)

Fanmail 

- 50 Cent:

Get Rich Or Die Tryin

Dark Horses (Currently 4x+ - 9x Platinum):

Spoiler

- Tina Turner's Private Dancer

- Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced

- Janet Jackson's janet. & Rhythm Nation 1814

- Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad (S)

- Beyoncé's I Am...Sasha Fierce (S) & Dangerously In Love (S)

- Usher's My Way

- Alicia Keys' Songs In A Minor & Diary Of Alicia Keys

- Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III (S) & Tha Carter IV (S)

- Drake's Take Care (S) & Views (S)

- Jay-Z's Vol.2 Hard Knock Life

- 50 Cent's The Massacre

- Dr. Dre's 2001

- The Weeknd's Beauty Behind The Madness (S)

- Mariah Carey's Emotions, Merry Christmas & The Emancipation of Mimi (S)

- Shaggy's Hot Shot

- Tracy Chapman's Tracy Chapman & New Beginnings

- Nelly's Nellyville

- Brandy's Never Say Never

- The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready To Die 

- Anita Baker's Rapture

- Milli Vanilli's Girl You Know It's True*(*Master recordings were completely deleted by Arista after the lipsyncing controversy so this 6x Platinum certification is probably the end of the road)

 

(S) denotes that streaming will probably need to be included.

 

 

 

 

~ THE WINNER'S CIRCLE ~

(ALBUMS)

Spoiler

1976 - Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life

1982 - Michael Jackson - Thriller

1983 - Lionel Richie - Can't Slow Down

1984 - Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend

1984 - Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain

1985 - Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston

1987 - Michael Jackson - Bad

1987 - Whitney Houston - Whitney

1990 - MC Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em

1992 - Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard OST

1993 - Mariah Carey - Music Box

1994 - Boyz II Men - II

1994 - TLC - CrazySexyCool

1995 - Mariah Carey - Daydream

1996 - 2Pac - All Eyez On Me

1997 - The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

1998 - Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

1998 - 2Pac - Greatest Hits

2000 - Nelly - Country Grammar

2003 - Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

2004 - Usher - Confessions

 (SINGLES - LEAD ACTS)

Spoiler

1983 - Michael Jackson - Thriller

1983 - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

1992 - Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You

1994 - Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You 

2003 - 50 Cent - In Da Club

2004 - Usher - Yeah! (Feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris)

2007 - Flo-Rida - Low (Feat. T-Pain)

2007 - Kanye West - Stronger

2008 - Lil' Wayne - Lollipop (Feat. Static Major)

2009 - Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

2009 - Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness (Feat. Ratatat & MGMT)

2010 - Roscoe Dash & Waka Flocka Flame - No Hands (Feat. Wale)

2011 - LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem (Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock)

2011 - Rihanna - We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)

2011 - Jay-Z & Kanye West - N***** In Paris

2011 - Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

2012 - Rihanna - Diamonds (NEW) 

2013 - Pharrell Williams - Happy

2013 - Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel

2013 - John Legend - All Of Me

2014 - Fetty Wap - Trap Queen

2015 - The Weeknd - Earned It 

2015 - The Weeknd - The Hills

2015 - The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face 

2015 - Wiz Khalifa - See You Again (Feat. Charlie Puth)

2015 - Drake - Hotline Bling 

2016 - The Weeknd - Starboy

2016 - Drake - One Dance (Feat. Wizkid & KYLA) 

2017 - Cardi B - Bodak Yellow

2017 - XXXTentacion - F*** Love (Feat. Trippie Redd)

2017 - Juice WRLD - Lucid Dreams

2017 - Lil Uzi Vert - XO Tour Lif3 

2017 - Khalid - Location

2017 - Khalid - Young, Dumb & Broke 

2017 - Kane Brown - Heaven

2018 - Drake - God's Plan

2018 - Cardi B - I Like It (Feat. J. Balvin & Bad Bunny)

2018 - Travis Scott - Sicko Mode (Feat. Drake)

2018 - Lil Nas X - Old Town Road (Feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)

2018 - XXXTentacion - Sad!

2018 - Swae Lee & Post Malone - Sunflower

2018 - Lil Baby & Gunna - Drip Too Hard

2019 - Roddy Ricch - The Box

2019 - The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

2020 - Future - Life Is Good (Feat. Drake)

 

(FEATURED ACTS)

Spoiler

2010 - Snoop Dogg ("California Girls")

2010 - Rihanna ("Love The Way You Lie") 

2010 - Ludacris ("Baby")

2011 - Janelle Monae ("We Are Young")

2011 - Ray Dalton ("Can't Hold Us")

2013 - Pharrell & T.I ("Blurred Lines")

2013 - Juicy J ("Dark Horse")

2016 - Quavo ("Congratulations")

2017 - 21 Savage ("Rockstar")

2017 - Young Thug ("Havana")

2017 - Swae Lee ("Unforgettable")

2017 - Cardi B ("Girls Like You")

2018 - Ty Dolla $ign ("Psycho") 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24 by trainsskyscrapers

[brainmaniac]

12 minutes ago, trainsskyscrapers said:

(S) denotes that streaming will probably need to be included.

Isn’t that true of every album on this list? Pure catalog sales are dead at this point

[trainsskyscrapers]

2 minutes ago, brainmaniac said:

Isn’t that true of every album on this list? Pure catalog sales are dead at this point

Some of these haven't been re-certified since the year after they were released. I'm sure most of those 80s + 90s projects along with a few key early 00s albums have the shipped pure units to get to Diamond. 

[SLIME]

edit: i misread lol

 

I will stream Jimi, Janet, and some more

[Ken Lee]

i'm hoping AIWFCIY never stops dominating and drives Merry Christmas to diamond years from now

[OnMyCoolJ]

wouldn't IASF be in the running before DIL if streaming would be included? 

[robbyds]

I hope janet recertifies her work. But it will be very unlikely as she just doesn't care. Rhythm Nation and janet are probably diamond by now.

[trainsskyscrapers]

6 hours ago, OnMyCoolJ said:

wouldn't IASF be in the running before DIL if streaming would be included? 

 You're right. I'll add it to the list. Thank you!

[slw84]

6 hours ago, robbyds said:

I hope janet recertifies her work. But it will be very unlikely as she just doesn't care. Rhythm Nation and janet are probably diamond by now.

I think her streams and digitals won't be a enough but yes she is grossly undercertified.

 

At least 5 of her albums need updates.

 

Rhythm nation is an easy 8x platinum with a chance of 9x platinum but I don't think her streams are strong enough for her to get to diamond sadly. It could have been without 2004.

 

Janet is another easy 8x platinum album.

 

Control should be 6x platinum

Rhythm should be 9x platinum

Janet should be 8x platinum

Velvet rope should be 4x platinum

Design of a decade should be 4x platinum

all for you should be 3x platinum

11 hours ago, brainmaniac said:

Isn’t that true of every album on this list? Pure catalog sales are dead at this point

Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey is the only album on that list realistically has a chance of getting diamond certified.

 

Back in the day tons of albums had shipments above sales and during the digital era majority of those shipments were sold at a reduced rate like the 3 for the price of 1 deals in best buy. 

 

It's possible the DC3 album might get it too but with sales of 6.5M ish but certified 8x platinum due to Columbia and BMG club sales I wonder if Say my name will be enough to send it to 10x platinum.

 

Unless Jimi hendrix is grossly undercertified for some odd reason then he'd be the 3rd but the one for sure is getting a diamond cert this decade is Merry Christmas.

 

[BnPac]

12 hours ago, trainsskyscrapers said:

2Pac (2)

[Chimier]

A lot of these albums the OP listed aren't even close to going diamond. LMAO. Just because 6 is next to 7, which is next to 8, which is next to 9, which is next to 10, doesn't mean 6 is next to 10. 

[brainmaniac]

14 hours ago, trainsskyscrapers said:

Some of these haven't been re-certified since the year after they were released. I'm sure most of those 80s + 90s projects along with a few key early 00s albums have the shipped pure units to get to Diamond. 

But why would they suddenly recertify them now if they had shipped Diamond so long ago?
 

Some of these albums especially would be hard to fathom.
 

Like Emotions is 4x Platinum and has scanned 3.5 Million. How much more could it have shipped 
 

Maybe we could be generous and say it shipped enough to be 5x Platinum. Even 6x Platinum would seem excessive but to sell only 3.5 Millon, yet be shipped Diamond? 

[trainsskyscrapers]

1 hour ago, brainmaniac said:

But why would they suddenly recertify them now if they had shipped Diamond so long ago?
 

Some of these albums especially would be hard to fathom.
 

Like Emotions is 4x Platinum and has scanned 3.5 Million. How much more could it have shipped 
 

Maybe we could be generous and say it shipped enough to be 5x Platinum. Even 6x Platinum would seem excessive but to sell only 3.5 Millon, yet be shipped Diamond? 

 

 

2 hours ago, Chimier said:

A lot of these albums the OP listed aren't even close to going diamond. LMAO. Just because 6 is next to 7, which is next to 8, which is next to 9, which is next to 10, doesn't mean 6 is next to 10. 

LMAO. Reading comprehension is so poor on this site.

Can either of you tell me the definition of a "dark horse"?

 

It's something with a barrier in front of it that currently diminishes its value compared to other people/places/things in competition with it, but has the POTENTIAL to surpass the competition given the *perfect* combination of circumstances. In this case, it could be an old single blowing up on streaming (movie soundtracks, etc), the untimely death of the performer (God forbid), a massive performance (like a Superbowl) that brings the performer's catalog back into the public eye, and/or simply the recertification of a project that hasn't been looked at for a decade plus.

 

Grow up guys. 

[worldwide angel]

please janet certify them during black diamond era

[robbyds]

8 hours ago, slw84 said:

I think her streams and digitals won't be a enough but yes she is grossly undercertified.

 

At least 5 of her albums need updates.

 

Rhythm nation is an easy 8x platinum with a chance of 9x platinum but I don't think her streams are strong enough for her to get to diamond sadly. It could have been without 2004.

 

Janet is another easy 8x platinum album.

 

Control should be 6x platinum

Rhythm should be 9x platinum

Janet should be 8x platinum

Velvet rope should be 4x platinum

Design of a decade should be 4x platinum

all for you should be 3x platinum

She really is, but even these estimates I think are on the lower side. This is my estimates for her albums:

 

 

Control - 7x plat

RN - 9x plat  (possible Diamond)

janet - 9x plat (possible Diamond)

DOAD - 5x plat

TVR - 4x plat

AFY - 3x plat

Discipline - Gold

Number Ones - Gold (platinum?)

 

*Some say her debut album janet jackson could be gold as well based on chart run but data is scant so I.m not so sure about this.

 

Control is just as big as True Blue in the US if not bigger. It ranked higher in the YEC charts in 1986 and 1987. It also sold slightly higher in BMG and Control is also available in Columbia (but their numbers were never revealed). So if TB can be 7x plat, I think Control can be too.

RN - A huge seller in BMG and available in Columbia too. Depending on Columbia Music Club sales the album may or may not have crossed Diamond since as you pointed out, streams are quite weak

janet - albums with lower soundscan tallies are certified higher than this album (Ex both Toni Braxton and Secret have 5M+ SS but certified 8x plat). SS plus BMG alone already pushes this album to 8x plat. With streams and shipment it should be at 9x platinum. What is going against this album crossing Diamond is its unavailability in Columbia Music Club and its limited release in BMG.

DOAD - 2.5M SS + 1.5M BMG = 4M in hard sales. It is also available in Columbia for many years and seems to be a her strongest catalog seller. 5x plat isn't a stretch

Discipline - with streams this has been confirmed gold

Number Ones - SS more than 300K units x 2 as a double album so this is also confirmed gold. With Streams On Demand it has crossed Platinum but some say considering them may be a case of double counting if we credit the streams to the parent studio album. Im not s sure about this...

 

All in all, I think janet has crossed 40x platinum in album sales in the US. She is only credited with 26.5x plat. Crazy.

[Adonis]

12 hours ago, slw84 said:

I think her streams and digitals won't be a enough but yes she is grossly undercertified.

 

At least 5 of her albums need updates.

 

Rhythm nation is an easy 8x platinum with a chance of 9x platinum but I don't think her streams are strong enough for her to get to diamond sadly. It could have been without 2004.

 

Janet is another easy 8x platinum album.

 

Control should be 6x platinum

Rhythm should be 9x platinum

Janet should be 8x platinum

Velvet rope should be 4x platinum

Design of a decade should be 4x platinum

all for you should be 3x platinum

Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey is the only album on that list realistically has a chance of getting diamond certified.

 

Back in the day tons of albums had shipments above sales and during the digital era majority of those shipments were sold at a reduced rate like the 3 for the price of 1 deals in best buy. 

 

It's possible the DC3 album might get it too but with sales of 6.5M ish but certified 8x platinum due to Columbia and BMG club sales I wonder if Say my name will be enough to send it to 10x platinum.

 

Unless Jimi hendrix is grossly undercertified for some odd reason then he'd be the 3rd but the one for sure is getting a diamond cert this decade is Merry Christmas.

 

Janet got a diamond plaque years ago.

[OnMyCoolJ]

if Bey had seen IASF for the commercial juggernaut it would be (it was never going to be a critical favorite, how dare a black woman show she can be versatile) etc.) 

 

and just made sure she met the length requirement for a double album.. she could've Outkast / BIG / Pac'd her way into the plaque already. 

we know she had plenty of good tracks left  that leaked or were added later.

 

I'm honestly shocked Nelly hasn't reached the milestone yet

[trainsskyscrapers]

33 minutes ago, OnMyCoolJ said:

I'm honestly shocked Nelly hasn't reached the milestone yet

His debut album Country Grammar is Diamond. Nellyville is next for him. 

[trainsskyscrapers]

The group I'm most sad about is the 60s-70s. Sure we have Jimi Hendrix & Stevie Wonder holding down the fort, but Motown + Atlantic/Columbia/Atco (for Black musicians) not really reporting any certifications is a major setback.

 

I'm almost certain at least 1 of the following acts is eligible for a Diamond album:

Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind & Fire, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Smokey Robinson, Roberta Flack, Dionne Warwick, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, Etta James. 

[OnMyCoolJ]

3 hours ago, trainsskyscrapers said:

His debut album Country Grammar is Diamond. Nellyville is next for him. 

yeah, but I am saying I'm surprised that between Hot In Here and Dilemma ...it hasn't garner the extra it needed for the certification yet. 

[trainsskyscrapers]

1 hour ago, OnMyCoolJ said:

yeah, but I am saying I'm surprised that between Hot In Here and Dilemma ...it hasn't garner the extra it needed for the certification yet. 

Oh. Gotcha.

[Chimier]

23 hours ago, trainsskyscrapers said:

 

 

LMAO. Reading comprehension is so poor on this site.

Can either of you tell me the definition of a "dark horse"?

 

It's something with a barrier in front of it that currently diminishes its value compared to other people/places/things in competition with it, but has the POTENTIAL to surpass the competition given the *perfect* combination of circumstances. In this case, it could be an old single blowing up on streaming (movie soundtracks, etc), the untimely death of the performer (God forbid), a massive performance (like a Superbowl) that brings the performer's catalog back into the public eye, and/or simply the recertification of a project that hasn't been looked at for a decade plus.

 

Grow up guys. 

LMAO.

That could be said about any album, any record, regardless of sales. So my point still stands. In fact, name one artist who experienced such a phenomena in their sales in recent years who DIDN'T die. Exactly.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Chimier

[trainsskyscrapers]

1 hour ago, Chimier said:

In fact, name one artist who experienced such a phenomena in their sales in recent years who DIDN'T die. Exactly.

Hmm....

You had to let it marinate and come back a few days later, huh....

 

Queen with their Rami Malek-led biopic is definitely one, I would like to say ABBA based on the runaway success of Mamma Mia, perennial BB200 mainstay Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", and as for modern records with "dark horse potential" (streaming involved) I would include Billie Eilish's debut EP "Don't Smile At Me", Adele's "19", Beyoncé's I Am...Sasha Fierce being buoyed by Halo/Single Ladies, along with Grenade/Just The Way You Are + Can't Feel My Face/The Hills + One Dance/Hotline Bling + Shape Of You/Perfect running those NUMBERS up for their respective albums. 

[Bey_Rihstan]

On 10/29/2020 at 12:38 AM, trainsskyscrapers said:

Dark Horses (Currently 4x+ - 9x Platinum):

 

Brandy's first 2 albums are 4 & 5x Platinum

[trainsskyscrapers]

1 hour ago, Bey_Rihstan said:

Brandy's first 2 albums are 4 & 5x Platinum

I'll definitely add Never Say Never.

I remember reading somewhere that the project has sold north of 15M copies WW?