To the surprise of nobody, JAY-Z has another championship belt on his hands.
Less than a week after its release on June 30th the much-hyped thirteenth album from Jigga, 4:44, nabbed its first Platinum plaque. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that the album has streamed one million units in its first five days.
4:44 Goes Platinum – JAY-Z’s 13 Platinum (or higher) solo studio Album Awards are more than any other hip hop artist. @s_c_ @RocNation #444 pic.twitter.com/oSSXrUpMUn
— RIAA (@RIAA) July 5, 2017
This is now a record-setting achievement for Jay, as he is the first and only hip hop artist with 13 certified solo Platinum albums. 4:44 is now, technically, the very first album to go Platinum off of streaming alone. Add his collaborative projects with R. Kelly (Best Of Both Worlds, Unfinished Business), Linkin Park (Collision Course) and Kanye West (Watch The Throne), and Jay has 17 total Platinum albums.
4:44 going Platinum follows 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, which was certified Platinum day of its physical release, thanks to some sneaky #NewRules.
Ironically, 4:44 went Platinum in the pirating world also. Hypebot reports that the album was bootlegged at least 971,196 times in its first 72 hours, according to media piracy analytics specialist MUSO. Take Snoop Dogg out of the equation, and about 971,175 people snatched the album for free… before Jay actually gave it away for free.
