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At the top of the music industry, sales and streams are taken very seriously indeed—and the main marker of success in that game is Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certification. Every major artist is chasing recognition by the RIAA, and that, of course, goes for rappers, too.

An album or single that goes “gold,” within this system, is good. But records that go “platinum” are better, and those that go “multiplatinum” are better still. The absolute dream scenario for record execs are albums or singles that go “diamond,” which is a sign of huge financial success. In practical terms, “gold” status means that 500,000 units have been sold. It’s a million for “platinum,” two million for “multiplatinum,” and jumping up to a huge 10 million sales for “diamond.” A diamond designation, naturally, is a rare beast.

This system seems simple enough, but the onset of streaming platforms has complicated matters. Nowadays streams have to be accounted for, too, with the RIAA introducing the idea of an “album-equivalent unit,” which establishes a certain number of streams or downloads that can be considered equivalent to a traditional album sale.

Nowadays 1,250 subscription audio streams, or, alternatively, 3,750 video or ad-supported streams, are said to be equivalent to one traditional album sale. This is an attempt to make the RIAA system work in our new era of music consumption, but it’s easy to see how this is not an exact science.

Moreover, the system was never perfect to begin with. Even before streaming, actually measuring record sales was easier said than done. As pointed out by an article published by Entertainment Weekly, there has long been criticism of the fact that RIAA supposedly measures sales on the basis of album units sent to stores by record companies.

Even if the store fails to sell some of these albums to consumers, ultimately sending them back to their record company, they have already been measured by the RIAA as a “sale.” That’s the claim, anyway, although EW quotes a former RIAA program coordinator who denied that this was the case.

Either way, the RIAA system is more complicated than one might imagine. But it is a remarkably attractive prospect for record companies, and they seek to ensure their albums are measured by it. Why? Because hype equals further sales. It can be a self-perpetuating process, where an album that is labelled “gold,” say, receives a boost as consumers hear about its status and seek to jump on the bandwagon.

Leading artists and their labels covet RIAA awards, especially the platinum and rare diamond ones. Hip-hop artists are chasing that status, too, and, in this regard, the most successful acts are fairly predictable. 

Drake, Tupac and Kanye West all have ten albums that have achieved platinum status, meaning they break into the top five of this particular list. Above them in the number two spot, with 11 platinum albums, is Eminem, but the top spot belongs to Jay-Z, who is way out in front. He boasts 17.