HipHopDX’s annual list of the top-selling albums and singles features some familiar trends. According to information provided by Nielsen, Americans purchased nearly 1 billion digital tracks by October of 2012. That set a pace to easily eclipse 2011’s total of 1.3 billion, and the growth trickled down to Hip Hop where newcomers like French Montana and PSY joined mainstays like Kanye West.
This year’s list includes all material released between December 20, 2011 and December 20, 2012, so Young Jeezy’s Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition and Flo Rida’s single, “Wild Ones” both make the list despite being released in late 2011. It should also be noted that Usher and Frank Ocean both barely missed gold certification, with Nielsen SoundScan figures in the upper 400,000 range. And finally, G.O.O.D. Music’s “Clique” was rumored to be a platinum digital single, but neither Nielsen nor the R.I.A.A. would confirm it.
We present our breakdown of the artists that turned popularity into profits, featuring fan and media favorite Kendrick Lamar. Change came in the form of onetime Playaz Circle member Tity Boi renaming himself as 2 Chainz and earning his first certifications since 2007’s “Duffle Bag Boy.”
Flo Rida joined Nicki Minaj and Tyga as the overall top medalists. Cash Money / Young Money acts kept their label’s run of commercial dominance intact thanks to multiplatinum singles from both Tyga and Nicki Minaj—owner of Hip Hop’s best-selling album for 2012 with Pink Friday: Roman Relaoded.
2012 Rap Albums And Singles That Went Gold And Platinum
RELATED: Infographic – Precious Medals: The 2011 Hip Hop Gold & Platinum Plaques
Nicki? not rap and ross? not really gold. 440,000 more like it…
wow, your hate is strong. go get a career or business and stop working by the hour.
its not hate those are facts
how is it facts, when she raps on all of her songs. just because she talented enough to sing her own hooks and doesn’t have to spend extra money to get an r&b singer to do it, she still raps 80% of her albums.
stop hating on her when u know she a rapper..
i was more talking about ross
The album sounded completely pop. Just because there’s some rapping on it does not make it a rap album.
I swear you online geeks are fucking haters. So what it sounds pop. I hate Young Money music but you nerds take shit to personal and hate on people yall don’t even know. Fucking nerds.
it should also be noted that ross and 2chainz havent even sold 500k yet
Rick Ross and 2 Chainz own their labels, so they making at least a $4.00 per album sold profit. Both of them probably have made at least $2,000,000.00 profit off of their non gold albums.
wrong and wrong, no one getting 4 bucks off an album except maybe the indies
they may own their imprints but the white jews still own them
Rick Ross is signed to a major and his label is part of that major so.. no.
2Chainz does NOT own Def Jam lmao.
actually ross has a distribution deal, so he is getting at minimum 4 dollars per unit shipped wholesale.
thats just not how it works
no one is getting $4 an album with a distribution deal
and all those big name producers and features arent cheap
mac miller making more off his album than officer ricky
rick ross tweets everyday begging people to buy his album
god forbid an artist shows interest in his work!
tyga is doing pretty well considering the fact he’s getting sueed left and right, not to mention the fact he owes money on a friend’s credit card.
and that it was proven he is not really from compton, just a rich kid from the valley
we do not claim tyga. fuck em
it should be nominated that nicki has sold just over 700,000. the remaining 300,000 are lying dusty in target shelves. thanks
That supposed 300,000 on those shelves is more than 90% of the rappers sales from last year though.
#YMCMB
VV I meant “noted” not “nominated” VV
repost:
it should be noted that nicki has sold just over 700,000. the remaining 300,000 are lying dusty in target shelves. thanks
How many other rappers sold more than 700,000 albums? Name at least 5 solo rap albums in the last year that sold more than 700,000 albums, before you attempt to hate. Oh yeah, she sold 4,000,000 singles on top of that and we just talking domestic numbers not worldwide.
shes not a rapper so its irrelevant
justin bieber moved mad units too
now the haters trying to say she isn’t a rapper, because she sold more than every other rapper…lol
They are geeks. Talk bad about one of there favorite artist i bet you they catch a fit. Say something like Nas is wack. They gonna bitch.
(Oh by the way Nas is my favorite rapper all time other then 2Pac) But its true these geeks catch feelings when you say Nas or Kendrick is wack. Or one of those Underground niggas.
Tyga-Make it Nasty is listed twice. It is under platinum and gold. So which one is it?
You guys never check your work do you?
Ok, even if you only count it once, the man still sold 4 million singles as opposed to 4.5 million singles, so stop with the stupid hatred.
HOW IS THAT HATING????????????
haters trying to take away the fact that tyga still sold 4 million singles.
How is Make it Nasty both platinum and gold? Lol you guys fuck up this chart every single year
You guys have Make it Nasty listed twice. Should probably fix that
you know hip hop in bad shape when ymcmb got most plaques smfh
It’s a shame that you hating on people trying to make a living.
you know its in good shape when kendrick lamar had the best selling HIP-HOP album that came out in 2012
Nicki Minaj album came out in 2012 and sold more than Kendrick.
i said HIP-HOP. her album was pop songs for little girls and homos
what’s wrong with young females and homosexuals? i hope you know that dr dre and kendrick lamar are bisexual.
All of these post is exactly what im talking about
This Infographic shows how shitty a year 2012 was in Hip Hop….
It didnt even occur to me that Nicki Minaj’s piece of shit album was the highest selling Hip Hop album of 2012….
Even the fact that Tyga was up there as a medalist this year surprised me, I mean dude’s songs was on the radio out here in Miami all year. Faded is still playing but that surprised me man. Good for him but jeez its lame.
The most hilarious thing is that for ALL of MMG’s major dominance in terms of attention and radio play and all that… They still can dominant an actual chart, people don’t seem to buy into the hype really. YMCMB still does more commercial damage than MMG and everybody else for that matter.
Congrats to Kendrick for coming out in the 4th quarter and doing major things though. That is obviously extremely impressive.
Just think of it this way if Kendrick dropped at the same time as Nicki and had a re release of his album he’d be well plat by now.
Besides I don’t usually label albums that are technically hip-hop pop just because of their sound.. but Nicki Minaj’s album was literally a pop album between all the singing, repetition, and the beats.
So to me, Kendrick had the top selling hip hop album.
The only difference between Nicki’s albums and other rap albums, was the fact that sang her own hooks.
I HAD SIMILAR THOUGHTS…NO HOMO.
NO REASON TO SPECULATE ON WHAT IF KENDRICK’S ALBUM DROPPED EARLIER THOUGH. PERHAPS THE TIMING WAS PERFECT.
Y’all niggas know who’s gon have 2013 on lock (*cough Kendrick cough*)
Wasn’t Clique Platinum aswell? And Niggas in Paris certainly got one or two additional Platinum plaques this year also. Just sayin’.
Don’t get mad at YMCMB for selling. Get mad at the hip hop community for not supporting artists by buying records. Vote with your dollars!
what happened to MMG they had a few gold and plat for last year the list is not good
what platinum did mmg have this year?
ross album is certified gold, even though he didnt sell 500k, thats it, no gold singles, no platinum singles
the list is accurate
Quit drinking that hype kool aid the industry is selling you. MMG dont sell shit, Ross himself is lucky to go gold.
It doesn’t matter if Ross don’t go platinum. His body of work is quality music. Most of what MMG release is really good music. That’s my opinion. Eminem can say a bunch of nothing on an album and it sell like water!
Congrats to Kendrick. That’s the only hip hop album on the list with quality content.
the only hip hop album on the list that’s actually hip hop lol
THANX TO “TIP”…SILVER in 2 WEEKS…*smile
KL = TRAPP/HOP….*smile
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how did mac millers single go gold, i never even heard that song once in my life
Same way MGK’s single went gold. He white.
I saw this on the Billboard list too… How can Ross sell more than Kendrick when GKMC went gold and Ross’ joint didn’t?
no where does it say ross sold more
his album came out first and kendrick came out at the end of the year
I’m pretty sure the only reason Nicki has the highest selling album is cause they count her re-release of the album with the initial album alhtough it was promoted like a new album. So combined those 2 albums sales are what they’re counting.
She already had sold 700,000 with the original, so she beat everyone before the re-release even came out.
700k isnt very good considering her demographic
damn niggas try so hard to discredit certain artists. the denial is fucking crazy. just give her her props and stfu. jesus
regardless of her so called demographic, she already sold 700k before the re up, so chill with the salt.
she has the same fans as bieber, lady gaga and taylor swift but cant do numbers like them
What about Swimming Pools I thought that single was at least gold..
guess not, that makes his album going gold all that much more impressive
Kayla. if you, thought Francisco`s postlng is impressive… last tuesday I got a great new Porsche 911 after bringing in $6892 this-past/4 weeks and just a little over 10k this past month. this is definitely the easiest-job I’ve ever had. I started this 6 months ago and almost straight away began to bring in minimum $72 p/h.
I use the details on this website…WWW.Obamafinanceprojects2013.qr.net/j4ci/p1=0pIU1uZlH
hip hop heads dont even support the artist they do like yet they are always the first to open their mouth with an opinion about other artists.
Everything about this makes me sad
u must be from new york?
Rick Ross Touch N You, was a hot track. So for it not to sell is beyond me. The album is platinum worthy. Ross always making great music. N*ggas hate on Rozay, but he been Rick Ross since the slip n slide days and homie can sell a piece crack in the hood ..and he took that and blew it to another level. You simpletons are mad because he worked in a prison at 19 for 18 months..go some where…it’s like you want him to do good, but not do good…n*gga sh*t!
gold for life
So Rick Ross slammed on more criminals than not…isn’t that a good thing? He making a living at 19 as a CO to support babies, is that not a good thing? I guess y’all want him to not lock up criminals.
I guess this is for units shipped, not sold.
jeezy, kendrick and nicki all sold over 500k and are gold
ross and 2chainz not so much
HIPHOP IS DEAD.
R.I.P.
i’m really tired of all u hateful people from the east coast.
Hip Hop isn’t dead. It’s just buried underground.
I guess the only way to sell music these days is to target white girls
Who do you think were buying The Motown albums and Def Jam?
Newsflash: So this tell me that Nicki Minaj is NEW YORK Statute of Liberty & the Queen of Hip-Hop. Jeezy is the REAL BAWSE. Flo’rida RUNS the 305 not Rick Ross. Tyga & Kendrick Lamar are the SAVIORS of WEST COAST Hip-Hop. And Rick Ross & 2 Chainz are OVERRATED!
Nicki Minaj never claimed to be nothing but “Barbie”, so stop trying tell lies on her. If an artist doesn’t actually say something, don’t words in their mouth. T.I. really said that he was the “King Of The South”, but Nicki ain’t never said nothing so stupid as what you just wrote.
It’s all about other revenues nowadays. Artists don’t have to even have a gold album to become millionaires.
I wonder how different this chart would look if illegal downloads were counted as well.
YMCMB is buying inventory..But the story won’t be told until 20 years from now. Their business practices are suspect.
ummm… so Im supposed to believe that Kendrick Lamar’s Recipe and Swimming Pools didn’t go platinum this year huh??
and why didnt yall simply post that clique single under the gold medals…
And fucking hello, are we all going to just pretend that Kanye’s Mercy didn’t get plat either?? REALLY HHDX??
Im not sure if Wiz Khalifa’s Remember You went gold as a single, BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT WORK HARD WENT PLAT!!
Strange Clouds was a gold single too if memory serves me correct!!
And let’s not forget Jeezy’s track with NeYo, and didn’t “I Do” go gold as well?
Yall seriously fucked up this list this year!! Yall left out hella singles!!
wish i could edit that last post… now i look like a dork for not seeing the kanye mercy single on the last…
i swear its like they added it real quick after i pressed enter
kendrick fans dont buy singles, they went out and bought the whole album, thats why he sold more than everyone on her except nicki and jeezy
congrats to Nicki Minaj… we da YMCMB team are proud of her. YMCMB iz da best… we always sell da mos albumz. congratz to 2Chainz and Ricky Rozay too. classic albumz… fuck Kendrick Lam-ER… dat shit wuz not hip hop. he a pop rapper. swag
When I clicked on this article, i did NOT expect to be reading about how many singles Psy and Justin Beiber sold.
DX, your definition of ‘hip hop’ is embarrassing.
Tyga-Make It Nasty is listed twice. Why wont you guys fix this?
I just want someone to give me a rimjob sometimes. Is that really to much to ask?
TYGA MAKE IT NASTY IS LISTED TWICE. ARE YOU GUYS FUCKING DUMB? YOU LOOK MORE RIDICULOUS THAN ME TYPING IN ALL CAPS!!!
Why Dont you guys include Taylor Swift too? I mean where is the cut off? Justin Beiver and Maroon five may have had hiphop artists on those songs, but the genre in which they were purchased in Itunes is not classified under hiphop.
and fuck PSY
Gangnam Style, As Long as You Love Me, and Payphone were not released as rap singles. You guys also left some songs out.
Oh and Tyga Make it Nasty is listed twice under both gold and platinum.
thanks for letting us know something that has already been brought up about 20 times
Looks more like a glimpse at the pop charts than a Hip-Hop snap shot for the most part unfortunately. Hip-Hop’s finally starting to get a lil bit of balance once again but sadly the charts have yet to truly reflect it.
Macklemore had a gold single (thrift shop) that was certified plat on the 4th of january 2013……
it says on the chart that this is from dec 20, 2011 to dec 20, 2012
this came out on the 3rd, you want them to go back in time?
Check your facts there are multiple mistakes on your graphic and in your post. Please review and make corrections.