The Rappers With the Most Platinum Albums of All Time

Hip hop has come a long way since The Sugarhill Gang dropped the first commercially successful rap song when “Rapper’s Delight” cracked the Billboard top 40. In recent times, Drake has been absolutely killin’ it and was announced as the most streamed artist of all time in 2023.

From Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell – which was the genre’s first platinum album – to MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em – rap’s first diamond record – hip hop has seen its fair share of successful artists.

According to a great article by DJBooth , over 130 hip hop artists have since released platinum albums. However, scoring more than one platinum album is way harder, and that’s when the list starts shrinking quickly.

So let’s get into it, here are 32 rappers who have achieved the most platinum albums in hip hop history.

Wu-Tang Clan

Platinum albums: 3

• Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
• Wu-Tang Forever
• The W

Public Enemy

Platinum albums: 3

• It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
• Fear of a Black Planet
• Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black

Run-D.M.C.

Platinum albums: 3

• King of Rock
• Raising Hell
• Tougher Than Leather

Salt-N-Pepa

Platinum albums: 4

• Hot, Cool & Vicious
• Blacks’ Magic
• The Greatest Hits
• Very Necessary

MC Hammer

Platinum albums: 4

• Let’s Get It Started
• Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em
• Too Legit to Quit
• The Funky Headhunter

Ja Rule

Platinum albums: 4

• Venni Vetti Vecci
• Rule 3:36
• Pain Is Love
• The Last Temptation

Nelly

Platinum albums: 5

• Country Grammar
• Nellyville
• Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention
• Sweat
• Suit

Busta Rhymes

Platinum albums: 5

• The Coming
• When Disaster Strikes…
• E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front
• Anarchy
• Genesis

Missy Elliott

Platinum albums: 5

• Supa Dupa Fly
• Da Real World
• Miss E… So Addictive
• Under Construction
• This Is Not a Test!

Ludacris

Platinum albums: 5

• Back for the First Time
• Word of Mouf
• Chicken-n-Beer
• The Red Light District
• Release Therapy

DMX

Platinum albums: 5

• It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot
• Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood
• … And Then There Was X
• The Great Depression
• Grand Champ

T.I.

Platinum albums: 5

• Trap Muzik
• Urban Legend
• King
• T.I. vs. T.I.P.
• Paper Trail

The Notorious B.I.G.

Platinum albums: 5

• Ready to Die
• Life After Death
• Born Again
• Duets: The Final Chapter
• Greatest Hits

Scarface

Platinum albums: 5

• We Can’t Be Stopped (with Geto Boys)
• The World Is Yours
• The Diary
• The Untouchable
• My Homies

Cypress Hill

Platinum albums: 6

1. Cypress Hill
2. Black Sunday
3. Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom
4. Cypress Hill IV
5. Los grandes éxitos en español
6. Skull & Bones

Method Man

Platinum albums: 6

• Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (with Wu-Tang Clan)
• Tical (1994)
• Wu-Tang Forever (with Wu-Tang Clan)
• Tical 2000: Judgment Day
• Blackout! (with Redman)
• The W (with Wu-Tang Clan)

Eazy-E

Platinum albums: 6

• Straight Outta Compton (with N.W.A.)
• Eazy-Duz-It
• 100 Miles and Runnin’ EP (with N.W.A.)
• Niggaz4Life (with N.W.A)
• It’s On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa
• The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 (with N.W.A)

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

Platinum albums: 6

• Creepin on ah Come Up EP
• E. 1999 Eternal
• The Art of War
• The Collection: Vol. 1
• BTNHResurrection
• Greatest Hits

Too $hort

Platinum albums: 6

• Life Is…Too Short
• Short Dog’s in the House
• Shorty the Pimp
• Get in Where You Fit In
• Cocktails
• Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten)

Dr. Dre

Platinum albums: 7

• Straight Outta Compton (with N.W.A.)
• 100 Miles and Runnin’ (with N.W.A.)
• Niggaz4Life (with N.W.A.)
• The Chronic
• Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath
• The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 (with N.W.A.)
• 2001

Beastie Boys

Platinum albums: 7

• Licensed to Ill
• Paul’s Boutique
• Check Your Head
• Ill Communication
• Hello Nasty
• Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science
• To the 5 Boroughs

LL Cool J

Platinum albums: 7

• Radio
• Bigger and Deffer
• Walking with a Panther
• Mama Said Knock You Out
• Mr. Smith
• All World: Greatest Hits
• Phenomenon

OutKast

Platinum albums: 7

• Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
• ATLiens
• Aquemini
• Stankonia
• Big Boi & Dre Presents… OutKast
• Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
• Idlewild

Nas

Platinum albums: 7

• Illmatic
• It Was Written
• I Am…
• Nastradamus
• Stillmatic
• God’s Son
• Street’s Disciple

Snoop Dogg

Platinum albums: 8

• Doggystyle
• Tha Doggfather
• Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told
• No Limit Top Dogg
• Tha Eastsidaz (with Tray Deee and Goldie Loc as Tha Eastsidaz)
• Tha Last Meal
• Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss
• R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece

Ice Cube

Platinum albums: 8

• Straight Outta Compton (with N.W.A.)
• AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
• Kill at Will
• Death Certificate
• The Predator
• Lethal Injection
• War & Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc)
• The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 (with N.W.A.)

Lil Wayne

Platinum albums: 9

• Tha Block Is Hot
• Tha Carter
• Tha Carter II
• Tha Carter III
• Rebirth
• I Am Not a Human Being
• Tha Carter IV
• I Am Not a Human Being II
• Tha Carter V

Kanye West

Platinum albums: 9

• The College Dropout
• Late Registration
• Graduation
• 808s & Heartbreak
• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
• Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z)
• Cruel Summer (with GOOD Music)
• Yeezus
• The Life of Pablo

Drake

Platinum albums: 9

• Honestly, Nevermind
• Thank Me Later
• Take Care
• Nothing Was the Same
• If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
• What a Time to Be Alive (with Future)
• Views
• More Life
• Scorpion

2Pac

Platinum albums: 11

• Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…
• Me Against the World
• All Eyez on Me
• The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory
• R U Still Down? (Remember Me)
• Greatest Hits
• Still I Rise (with Outlawz)
• Until the End of Time
• Better Dayz
• Loyal to the Game
• Live at the House of Blues

Eminem

Platinum albums: 12

• The Slim Shady LP
• The Marshall Mathers LP
• Devil’s Night (with D12)
• The Eminem Show
• D12 World (with D12)
• Encore
• Curtain Call: The Hits
• Relapse
• Recovery
• Hell: The Sequel (as Bad Meets Evil)
• The Marshall Mathers LP 2
• Kamikaze

Jay-Z

Platinum albums: 17

• Reasonable Doubt
• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
• Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life
• Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter
• The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
• The Blueprint
• The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly)
• The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse
• The Black Album
• Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly)
• Collision Course (with Linkin Park)
• Kingdom Come
• American Gangster
• The Blueprint 3
• Watch the Throne (with Kanye West)
• Magna Carta… Holy Grail
• 4:44