“And Hip-Hop Was Not Yet Platinum Sold”: How “Going Platinum” Has Changed Posted by Lucas Garrison on 08/20/13 | Filed under Opinion, Sales

As I’m sure RefinedHype Nation knows, we love to talk some Kanye, but can you blame us? I mean we aren’t alone; Yeezy sneezes and the whole world stops and watches in wonderment. Considering his popularity, its no question that "Yeezus" has already gone platinum, selling over a million copies right? Wrong. Believe it or not, Yeezus, just went gold, with over 500,000 copies sold. It’s pretty crazy to think that the man who can stop time and was the talk of the town two months ago has barely eclipsed the gold status. While it might sound outlandish, hip-hop albums reaching platinum (1 million copies sold) has become a rarity.

Think of a few of the most popular albums in the past year or so; without even knowing which ones you said, I can pretty much assume they aren’t platinum. Of course you mentioned Good Kid, M.A.A.D City right? Well you would be right on that one, but the catch is that it just went platinum back in late June; hard to believe it took nearly a year for "GKMC" to go platinum. Surely Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist is platinum, I mean “Can’t Hold Us” is in literally every movie trailer and “Thrift Shop” basically broke the internet. Wrong again, The Heist, out since October of 2012, has still yet to go platinum, although it won’t be long now as it with over 900,000 sold copies. Shit, if it weren’t for Samsung, who bought a million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay wouldn’t have a platinum album on his hands either; I’m considering this one platinum with an asterisk. It is pretty incredible that almost every big hip-hop album within the past year has struggled to reach the illusive platinum status.



This trend becomes even more surprising when looking at the state of platinum records 8-10 years ago. It used to be albums would go platinum in their first week. In fact, in the context of today's sales, the list of platinum selling artists from the mid 2000’s will shock you. With 2003’s Jackpot and 2004’s Powerballing, Chingy has two platinum albums, not mention the fact that Jackpot went triple platinum. While it might be pre-2000, Master P and Juvinle both have platinum albums; Master P even has two that have both gone platinum more than once (MP Da Last Don went platinum 4 times). Shit, even Souljah Boy has a platinum album, as do the Ying Yang Twins. It used to be going platinum was a something to brag about, but when you consider the likes of these rappers going platinum--often more than once--and the fact that today, even the most popular rapper on the planet (Kanye) can’t go platinum, it really makes you wonder what it all means.



While it used to be something to write home about, I just don’t think the RIAA’s standards mean much anymore and that is all thanks to the internetz. When you consider leaks, free singles, streams, social media, and the millions of other ways the internet has revolutionized how we get music, the RIAA’s standards just don’t cut it. Hell, recently, (in part thanks to HOV) even the RIAA acknowledged that something needed to be changed.

Still, the days of seeing album go platinum more than once (if at all) appear to be long gone, but for some reason, it seems like going platinum is still the mark of a true superstar. I am sure over time Yeezus, "MCHG" ( this time for real), and other big releases from hip-hop artists will all reach platinum, but it just ain’t like it used to be. Back then one hit song like “Crank That” or “Right Thurr” all but locked up a platinum album, but now you need a "GKMC"-like album and even then you gotta wait almost a year to get the plaque. It’s pretty incredible that in just a few short years the industry can change so much to the point where what used to mean you made it is now an illusive, almost mythical goal.

Marinate on that, and while you do, enjoy some Black Rob "Whoa", from his platinum album, "Life Story":

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