André 3000 and Big Boi can now make the claim of having the best-selling album in Hip-Hop history. OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below rose up the American sales ranks to surpass a project by Eminem.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below reached 13x-Platinum status. That puts OutKast’s 2003 double LP among the best-selling albums of any genre.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below became a cultural phenomenon upon its release two decades ago. OutKast’s fifth studio album debuted at No. 1 by selling over 510,000 copies in its first week.
Both the Big Boi-focused “The Way You Move” single and the André 3000-focused “Hey Ya!” single peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Hey Ya!” remained at the pinnacle of the Hot 100 rankings for nine weeks.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below also became just the second Hip-Hop project to win the Grammy Award for Album Of The Year. The Diamond-certified The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (10x-Platinum) won that same honor at the 1999 Grammy ceremony.
OutKast has another full-length release that is currently halfway to Diamond status. The RIAA certified 2000’s Stankonia as 5x-Platinum in November 2021. Both Stankonia and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won Grammys for Best Rap Album.
Eminem’s The Eminem Show (12x-Platinum) previously held the RIAA certification record for a Hip-Hop album. In addition, the Detroit rapper received RIAA Diamond Awards for 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP (11x-Platinum) and 2005’s Curtain Call: The Hits (10x-Platinum).
Other Diamond-certified rap albums include The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death (11x-Platinum), 2Pac’s Greatest Hits (10x-Platinum), 2Pac’s All Eyez On Me (10x-Platinum), Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill (10x-Platinum), MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (10x-Platinum), and Nelly’s Country Grammar (10x-Platinum).
OutKast, Eminem or any other Hip-Hop act ever breaking the all-time RIAA certification record appears to be an extremely difficult feat. At the moment, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) by Eagles (38x-Platinum) and Thriller by Michael Jackson (34x-Platinum) are battling for first place.