Highest certified/selling rappers of all time in the USA (albums) 💿

[avon barksdale]

birdman said he sold over a billion albums playboi

 

[bourgeoisie tall freak]

i would actually expect someone like a future who just releases albums like hot n readys. dude got like 10 albums

 

[Paper Boi]

Future being that high is a destruction to hip hop

hardly the problem

the person who killed hip hop is 7 spaces up

 

[Midwest]

no hate to em but that is tragic how much race plays in every fukking thing in life! Every crumb, inch, breath. Scust!!!!

 

[Redwood]

Future being that high is a destruction to hip hop

He had that mid 2010s run where he was basically on par with Drake

 

[JMD]

Cube and Snoop couldn't crack that top 14? Hammer? Will?

pretty sure Snoop is under certified...Doggystyle is only at 4x plat and its definitely sold more

 

[Starburst]

The way that y’all carry on, I expected Drake to be above Jay-Z.

 

[JustCKing]

pretty sure Snoop is under certified...Doggystyle is only at 4x plat and its definitely sold more

A lot of the certifications aren't updated. I think Doggystyle soundscanned 6 million copies, which are the copies actually sold. This list is just based on RIAA certifications and not what they actually sold.

 

[Premeditated]

He had that mid 2010s run where he was basically on par with Drake

that's is exactly when the genre was declining in skillset and never coming back

 

[Redwood]

that's is exactly when the genre was declining in skillset and never coming back

Nah, that was long before that. The "Ringtone Rap" era had its moment.

 

[Premeditated]

Nah, that was long before that. The "Ringtone Rap" era had its moment.

nope.

ringtone rappers were not selling like that. they were mostly selling ringtones. hence their name. they were just niche artist who lasted for 2 years, while Kanye, Jeezy, Wayne, TI, Jay Z, 50 cent Ludas were still dominating hip hop. even after these guys, we had the Drake, Kendrick, Jcoles, Wale and Big Sean coming fresh on the scene. the skillset didn't start complete deteriorating until Future and Thug started making waves in 2013-14. than ones Future went mainstream in 2015, it's was done, every untalented young upcoming rapper knew that their sound was the easiest to replicate and get an easy hit.

 

[Redwood]

nope.

ringtone rappers were not selling like that. they were mostly selling ringtones. hence their name. they were just niche artist who lasted for 2 years, while Kanye, Jeezy, Wayne, TI, Jay Z, 50 cent Ludas were still dominating hip hop. even after these guys, we had the Drake, Kendrick, Jcoles, Wale and Big Sean coming fresh on the scene. the skillset didn't start complete deteriorating until Future and Thug started making waves in 2013-14. than ones Future went mainstream in 2015, it's was done, every untalented young upcoming rapper knew that their sound was the easiest to replicate and get an easy hit.

TBH, I really don't see much of a difference between the two since they both churned out a bunch of one-hit wonders. It all parallels to me

 

[beenz]

so this list does not include streaming right?

 

[Knucklehead]

so this list does not include streaming right?

It’s certifications of awarded gold and platinum plaques.
Used to be a lot easier to tabulate but it does include streaming. The tabulations are opaque but paid streaming vs free streaming services(calculated differently), YouTube and other video services, digital sales as well as actual physical sales and bundles all combine for a witches brew formula to equate “sales”.

 

[Low End Derrick]

legitimate source please

Yeah there's some big discrepancies between the list in the OP and every other source I've found:

These are the 16 rappers who have sold the most albums of all time

Based on album sales, Eminem is the highest-selling rapper of all time, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

www.insider.com

List of highest-certified music artists in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org