In the 70-year history of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), only 76 songs have been certified Diamond (meaning they’ve respectively sold 10 million copies in the United States).
Of those megahits, only four boast ownership by Black male singers – a number upped this week thanks to the ongoing success of Khalid‘s debut single, 2016’s ‘Location.’
Details inside:
Located on a list of certification upgrades afforded to the 24-year-old (born Khalid Robinson), ‘Location’ leads a slew of RIAA updates for the singer’s best commercially-performing singles.
In addition to that Syk Sense-produced cut being certified Diamond, Khalid’s ‘Young, Dumb, & Broke’ is now at 9x Platinum, ‘8Teen’ is now at 3x Platinum, and ‘Coaster’ is at 2x Platinum. On the albums front, Robinson’s debut effort – 2017’s ‘American Teen’ – is currently 4x Platinum. At writing, his cumulative digital single sales sits at 53 million in America.
With the advancement of ‘Location’ to the 10 million-sellers club, Khalid joins John Legend, The Weeknd, and Lil Nas X as the only Black male singers to have Diamond-certified singles. The latter’s ‘Old Town Road’ – at 16x Platinum – is in history books as the highest-certified single of all-time (among all acts).
It’s worth noting that though Juice Wrld, Pharrell Williams, and XXXTentacion are owners of Diamond-certified singles on which they are singing, none of the three are classified overall as “singers.”
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Your thoughts?
Damn, he is so young. I thought he was old.
He is gay. Cant wait for him to come out. He is a cool guy.
Michael never went diamond off a single?
Lil Nas a singer? I kno he’s gay but don’t confuse his profession as well.
IMO Shawn Mendes is the finest gay male artist.