Although Jay-Z has 24 Grammy Awards, four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and 14 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, he did not see his first diamond certification until this week.
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On Monday (June 12), RIAA updated their website to show that Jay-Z and Kanye West’s 2011 hit “N****s in Paris” had achieved 10x platinum status, qualifying it for a diamond plaque with 10,000,000 units sold. This is Hov’s first-ever diamond song or album, likely checking off the final box on the list of accolades for any mainstream artist.
Although Jay-Z and West have not commented on the matter, Hit-Boy and Mike Dean have both tweeted celebratory messages about the news, as they were credited as writers and producers on the song.
“it’s a real blessing to be apart of the song that became jay-z first diamond record,” Hit-Boy wrote on Twitter on Monday. “What a life.”
Hov likely won’t see another diamond certification for a while, though, considering his next closest release to that mark is his 1998 third studio album Vol 2…Hard Knock Life, which sits at 6x platinum as of April of this year. However, Monday’s announcement meant that West had actually earned his second diamond certification, as his 2007 song “Stronger” gave him his first in 2021.
Although West and Hov collaborated frequently in the 2000s and 2010s, evident on “N****s in Paris”‘s accompanying joint album Watch The Throne, the duo’s days of working together have certainly slowed down.
After Jay-Z reunited with West in 2021 for “Jail,” the second song on the track list for West’s tenth studio album Donda, West almost had his longtime friend removed from the recording. In a newly surfaced mini-documentary that contains footage of Donda recording sessions, West reveals that he contemplated leaving Hov off of the album because he did not attend one of the Donda listening parties.
Regardless, Jay-Z was maintained on the final version of “Jail,” which was certified as gold by RIAA in 2022.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation
