Platinum plaques and chart-topping albums don’t mean everything in hip hop, but they do mean a lot, despite what people want to think.
The more people buy your music, the greater the impact you words can have. So we’re going to take a look at 50 of the greatest rappers ever and see what their best-selling albums of all time are. Just a note that these only account for record sales in the US.
2Pac
Best selling album: All Eyez on Me
Released: February 13, 1996
Label: Death Row, Interscope
Sales: 5.8 million (counted as 11.6 million because it was a double album)
Eminem
Best selling album: The Marshall Mathers LP
Released: May 23, 2000
Label: Aftermath, Interscope, Web Entertainment
Sales: 11 million
OutKast
Best selling album: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Released: September 23, 2003
Label: Arista
Sales: 5.5 million (counted as 11 million because it was a double album)
The Notorious B.I.G.
Best selling album: Life After Death
Released: March 25, 1997
Label: Bad Boy
Sales: 5.3 million (counted as 10.7 million because it was a double album)
Lauryn Hill
Best selling album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Released: August 25, 1998
Label: Columbia, Ruffhouse
Sales: 10 million
Nelly
Best selling album: Country Grammar
Released: June 6, 2000
Label: Fo’ Reel, Universal
Sales: 10 million
Beastie Boys
Best selling album: Licensed to Ill
Released: November 15, 1986
Label: Def Jam, Columbia
Sales: 10 million
50 Cent
Best selling album: Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Released: February 6, 2003
Label: Shady, Aftermath, Interscope
Sales: 8.4 milllion
Dr. Dre
Best selling album: 2001
Released: November 16, 1999
Label: Aftermath, Interscope
Sales: 7.8 million
Puff Daddy
Best selling album: No Way Out
Released: July 22, 1997
Label: Bad Boy, Arista
Sales: 7 million
Snoop Dogg
Best selling album: Doggystyle
Released: November 23, 1993
Label: Death Row
Sales: 6.9 million
Lil Wayne
Best selling album: Tha Carter III
Released: June 10, 2008
Label: Cash Money, Universal Motown
Sales: 6 million
Drake
Best selling album: Views
Released: April 29, 2016
Label: Cash Money, Republic, Young Money
Sales: 6 million
Jay-Z
Best selling album: Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life
Released: September 29, 1998
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Sales: 5.4 million
DMX
Best selling album: It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot
Released: May 19, 1998
Label: Ruff Ryders, Def Jam
Sales: 5 million
Kanye West
Best selling album: Graduation
Released: February 10, 2004
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Sales: 5 million
Salt-N-Pepa
Best selling album: Very Necessary
Released: October 12, 1993
Label: Next Plateau, London
Sales: 5 million
Ja Rule
Best selling album: Pain Is Love
Released: October 2, 2001
Label: Murder Inc., Def Jam
Sales: 4.6 million
Wu-Tang Clan
Best selling album: Wu-Tang Forever
Released: June 3, 1997
Label: Loud
Sales: 4 million
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Best selling album: E. 1999 Eternal
Released: July 25, 1995
Label: Ruthless
Sales: 4 million
Master P
Best selling album: MP da Last Don
Released: June 2, 1998
Label: No Limit, Priority
Sales: 4 million
Juvenile
Best selling album: 400 Degreez
Released: November 9, 1998
Label: Cash Money, Universal
Sales: 4 million
Ludacris
Best selling album: Word of Mouf
Released: November 27, 2001
Label: Disturbing tha Peace, Def Jam
Sales: 3.6 million
Nas
Best selling album: It Was Written
Released: July 2, 1996
Label: Columbia
Sales: 3 milllion
Run-D.M.C.
Best selling album: Raising Hell
Released: May 27, 1986
Label: Profile
Sales: 3 million
Kendrick Lamar
Best selling album: good kid, m.A.A.d city
Released: October 22, 2012
Label: Top Dawg, Aftermath, Interscope
Sales: 3 million
J. Cole
Best selling album: 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Released: December 9, 2014
Label: Dreamville, Roc Nation, Columbia
Sales: 3 million
Travis Scott
Best selling album: Astroworld
Released: August 3, 2018
Label: Grand Hustle, Epic, Cactus Jack
Sales: 3 million
Warren G
Best selling album: Regulate… G Funk Era
Released: June 7, 1994
Label: Def Jam
Sales: 3 million
T.I.
Best selling album: Paper Trail
Released: September 30, 2008
Label: Grand Hustle, Atlantic
Sales: 2.8 million
Ice Cube
Best selling album: The Predator
Released: November 17, 1992
Label: Lench Mob, Priority
Sales: 2.2 million
Young Jeezy
Best selling album: Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101
Released: July 26, 2005
Label: CTE, Def Jam
Sales: 2 million
Future
Best selling album: DS2
Released: July 17, 2015
Label: Epic, A1, Freebandz
Sales: 2 million
A$AP Rocky
Best selling album: LONG.LIVE.A$AP
Released: January 15, 2013
Label: ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds, RCA
Sales: 2 million
Kid Cudi
Best selling album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Released: September 15, 2009
Label: Dream On, GOOD, Universal Motown
Sales: 2 million
Big Sean
Best selling album: Dark Sky Paradise
Released: February 24, 2015
Label: GOOD, Def Jam
Sales: 2 million
Lil Uzi Vert
Best selling album: Luv Is Rage 2
Released: August 25, 2017
Label: Generation Now, Atlantic
Sales: 2 million
Wiz Khalifa
Best selling album: Rolling Papers
Released: March 29, 2011
Label: Rostrum, Atlantic
Sales: 2 milllion
Method Man
Best selling album: Tical
Released: November 15, 1994
Label: Def Jam
Sales: 1.6 million
Busta Rhymes
Best selling album: When Disaster Strikes…
Released: September 16, 1997
Label: Flipmode, Elektra
Sales: 1.6 million
Public Enemy
Best selling album: Fear of a Black Planet
Released: April 10, 1990
Label: Def Jam
Sales: 1.3 million
Fabolous
Best selling album: Street Dreams
Released: March 4, 2003
Label: Desert Storm, Elektra
Sales: 1.1 million
Rick Ross
Best selling album: Port of Miami
Released: August 8, 2006
Label: Slip-n-Slide, Def Jam, Poe Boy
Sales: 1 million
Young Thug
Best selling album: So Much Fun
Released: August 16, 2019
Label: YSL, 300, Atlantic
Sales: 1 million
2 Chainz
Best selling album: Based on a T.R.U. Story
Released: August 14, 2012
Label: Def Jam
Sales: 1 million
Schoolboy Q
Best selling album: Oxymoron
Released: February 25, 2014
Label: Top Dawg, Interscope
Sales: 1 million
Redman
Best selling album: Doc’s da Name 2000
Released: November 24, 1998
Label: Def Jam
Sales: 1 million
The Roots
Best selling album: Things Fall Apart
Released: February 23, 1999
Label: MCA
Sales: 1 million
Jadakiss
Best selling album: Kiss of Death
Released: June 22, 2004
Label: Interscope, Ruff Ryders
Sales: 1 million
Mobb Deep
Best selling album: Murda Muzik
Released: August 17, 1999
Label: Loud
Sales: 1 million
