RIAA: Cardi B Breaks Tie With Nicki Minaj for All-Time Highest-Certified Female Rap Song
As of October 10, only three female Rap songs in history owned a Diamond certification at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of 10 million in the United States – Nicki Minaj‘s ‘Super Bass’ as well as Cardi B‘s Hot 100 #1 hits ‘I Like It’ and ‘Bodak Yellow.’
The latter performer, already penciled in the organization’s record books for being the first female rapper attached to three Diamond-certified singles overall, made history again when she saw the status of ‘Like’ and ‘Yellow’ updated Tuesday (October 11) – just in time for her 30th birthday.
On Tuesday, the RIAA took to press to announce ‘Yellow’ and ‘Like’ – both found aboard Cardi’s 2018 debut album ‘Invasion of Privacy’ – had crossed its threshold for 11x Platinum status. This means they’ve sold 11 million copies each in the U.S.
By doing so, she not only becomes the first female rapper to own a plaque with as high of a certification but she also breaks a two-way tie with Minaj for the highest-certified song by a female rapper.
While only 87 songs in the history of recorded music have been certified Diamond, just 13 of those have been certified higher than Cardi’s ‘Yellow’ and ‘Like’: Lil Nas X‘s ‘Old Town Road’ (16x Platinum), Gotye‘s ‘Somebody That I Used to Know‘ (14x Platinum), Imagine Dragons’ ‘Radioactive’ (14x Platinum), John Legend‘s ‘All of Me’ (14x Platinum), The Chainsmokers‘ ‘Closer‘ (14x Platinum), Bruno Mars’ ‘Just the Way You Are‘ (13x Platinum), Chris Stapleton‘s ‘Tennessee Whiskey‘ (13x Platinum), Eminem‘s ‘Lose Yourself’ (13x Platinum), Eminem’s ‘Love the Way You Lie‘ (13x Platinum), Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee‘s ‘Despacito‘ (13x Platinum), Ed Sheeran‘s ‘Thinking Out Loud‘ (12x Platinum), Justin Bieber‘s ‘Baby‘ (12x Platinum), and Katy Perry‘s ‘FireWork‘ (12x Platinum).
Among female acts, only Perry’s ‘Firework’ (12x Platinum), Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’ (11x Platinum), Bebe Rexha‘s ‘Meant to Be’ (11x Platinum), and Lady Gaga‘s ‘Bad Romance‘ (11x Platinum) have been certified as high or higher than Cardi’s ‘Yellow’ and ‘Like.’
The sales updates bring Cardi’s career digital sales to 54 million, the most among female rappers to date.
