At the top of November, only 6 rappers in the 71-year history of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) could boast owning over 50 Gold plaques for singles. For context, the award is bestowed to songs and albums that sell the equivalence of 500,000 copies in the United States.
By the end of the month, however, those titleholders welcomed a new kid on the block – ‘Middle Child’ hitmaker J. Cole.
Details inside.
Taking to press recently, the RIAA revealed Cole (born Jermaine Cole) had nearly 30 titles from his prized discography upgraded on the certification scale.
Led by the ‘Revenge of the Dreamers III’ single ‘Middle’ (certified 9x platinum for sales equivalence of 9 million in the U.S.), other standouts include ‘She’s Mine, Pt. 1,’ ‘4 Your Eyez Only,’ ‘Kevin’s Heart,’ and ‘The Off-Season.’
See the full list below.
9x Platinum
– ‘Middle Child’ (Single)
5x Platinum
– ‘2014 Forest Hills Drive’ (Album)
4x Platinum
– ‘Neighbors’ (Single)
3x Platinum
– ‘KOD’ (Single)
– ‘Kevin’s Heart’ (Single)
– ‘Born Sinner’ (Album)
– ‘Deja Vu’ (Single)
2x Platinum
– ‘My Life’ (Single)
– ‘Pride is the Devil’ Single)
– ‘ATM’ (Single)
– ‘4 Your Eyez Only’ (Album)
– ‘KOD’ (Album)
1x Platinum (for sales equivalence of 1 million in the U.S.)
– ‘The Off Season’ (Album)
– ‘Brackets’ (Single)
– ‘Amari’ (Single)
– ‘The Climb Back’ (Single)
– ‘4 Your Eyez Only’ (Single)
– ’95 South’ (Single)
– ‘Interlude’ (Single)
– ‘Ville Mentality’ (Single)
– ‘She’s Mine (Pt 1)’ (Single)
Gold
– ‘Applying Pressure’ (Single)
– ‘Snow on tha Bluff’ (Single)
– ‘Punchin the Clock’ (Single)
– ‘High for Hours’ (Single)
– ‘Album of the Year’ (Single)
– ‘Hunger on Hillside’ (Single)
With the additions above, Cole now owns 56 Gold records (for singles) – a feat that puts him in historic company.
Among rappers, only YoungBoy Never Broke Again (98), Kanye West (92), Drake (80), Eminem (72), Future (71), and Lil Baby (76) can boast having more.