Diamond record in French rap: who are the kings of certifications?
French rap has seen a meteoric rise in recent years, establishing itself as the most listened-to music genre in France. With this growing popularity, certifications have been raining down on artists from the French rap game. Among these awards, the diamond record represents the ultimate Grail.
The site https://www.alucare.fr/en/which-rapper-has-the-most-golden-discs/ has established the ranking of diamond records in French rap, allowing us to discover which artists dominate the charts and accumulate the most prestigious certifications.
The evolution of diamond records in the French music industry
Music certifications have a long history in France. Created to reward artists who reached certain sales thresholds, they have evolved over time to adapt to changes in the music market.
Since their creation in 1973, certification thresholds have undergone several changes. At first, only the gold record existed. Then, over the years, new categories appeared: silver record, platinum record and, finally, diamond record. These thresholds have often been lowered since 2006 because of the crisis in recorded music sales.
A major change came in 2016 with the integration of streaming into certification calculations. From then on, SNEP has added together the number of plays for each track on an album, subtracted half the number of plays of the most streamed track, then divided the result by 1,500 (1,000 before January 2019) to obtain the “ sales equivalent ”. This figure is then added to physical sales to determine the certification.
Currently, to earn a diamond record, an album must reach 500,000 sales equivalents, while a single must reach 50 million streams. This evolution has allowed French rap, a genre especially popular on streaming platforms, to shine in certification rankings.
French rappers at the top of diamond certifications
French rap now largely dominates the certification rankings, with artists piling up diamond records at a frantic pace. Among them, some stand out in particular.
At the top of this prestigious ranking is Ninho, a true phenomenon in French rap. With no fewer than 54 diamond-certified singles, he is far ahead of his competitors. This achievement is all the more impressive because his career truly took off in 2015.
Behind Ninho comes Damso with 34 diamond singles, followed closely by Jul and his 25 certifications. This leading trio clearly reflects rap’s dominance in the French music industry in recent years. They are followed by artists such as Nekfeu, Booba, Gazo and Niska, each of whom has between 18 and 20 diamond singles.
Diamond records: a rare consecration
While diamond singles have become relatively common in French rap, earning a diamond-certified album remains a rare and prestigious achievement. Only a few artists have managed to secure three or more diamond albums over the course of their careers.
Among them is Gims, who achieved the feat with his albums “Subliminal” (2013), “Mon cœur avait raison” (2015) and “Ceinture noire” (2018). The latter was even certified double diamond, surpassing one million copies sold. Nekfeu is also part of this very exclusive club, with his three albums “Feu” (2015), “Cyborg” (2016) and “Les Étoiles vagabondes” (2019), all certified diamond.
Soprano also achieved this performance with “Cosmopolitanie” (2014), “L’Everest” (2016) and “Phœnix” (2018). Finally, Ninho recently joined this select group thanks to the diamond certification of his project “M.I.L.S 3”, which adds to those of his albums “Comme prévu” (2017) and “Destin” (2019).
The landscape of diamond records in French rap is constantly evolving. While some artists seem impossible to dethrone, new talents regularly emerge and shake up the established hierarchy. The integration of streaming into certification calculations has certainly favored rap, a genre especially popular on online listening platforms.
However, it is important to note that these figures, impressive as they may be, do not necessarily reflect the artistic quality of the works. They nevertheless demonstrate the public’s enthusiasm for French rap and certain artists’ ability to reach a broad audience.
In the future, it will be interesting to see how these rankings evolve. Will new artists manage to dethrone today’s giants? Will certification calculation methods continue to adapt to new listening habits? One thing is certain: French rap has not finished surprising us and breaking records.