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There is no verified, comparable worldwide all-time ranking of best-selling rap songs. The clearest documented milestones instead measure different things: U.S. single certifications that can include streaming equivalents, artist-wide digital-single totals, and album certifications. Those records offer useful context, but they cannot be combined into a song-by-song sales chart.
Why there is no definitive worldwide ranking
A reliable all-time ranking would need comparable song-level figures across countries and eras. The available records do not provide that: sales formats and accounting have changed from physical singles to downloads and streaming, and no single organization consistently tracked global single sales across the full history of recorded music.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Turning My Money Over (Quadruple Album) | $17.69 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
2001 | $10.91 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Project X | $13.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
2Pac Greatest Hits | $19.17 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
We Can't Be Stopped (35th Anniversary) | $13.96 | Buy on Amazon |
U.S. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certifications are useful for checking U.S. awards by artist, title, label, format and certification level. They are not a ledger of worldwide historical sales. Modern certification units can also include streaming equivalents, so a certified unit is not necessarily one physical copy or one paid download.
Documented rap and rap-adjacent milestones
These examples are commercial records with different scopes, not entries in a ranked list. The measure and object in each row matter as much as the number.
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#1 Best Overall
| Recording or catalog | What the record reports | What it measures—and what it does not |
|---|---|---|
| “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, with the Billy Ray Cyrus remix | Guinness World Records reports that the recording received RIAA Diamond certification for 10 million U.S. units on 22 October 2019. | A U.S. certification milestone, not 10 million physical copies or a worldwide total. Guinness says the RIAA calculation includes sales and streaming equivalents. The song is a country-rap hybrid, so it is better described as rap-adjacent or crossover than treated as an unambiguous genre case. The remix featuring Cyrus had been released 200 days before the certification date. |
| Drake’s catalog | Guinness World Records reported 244 million U.S. certified digital-single units for Drake as of 17 April 2024. | An artist-level aggregate across his catalog, not a total for any individual song. Guinness names “God’s Plan,” “In My Feelings” and “One Dance” among tracks awarded in the certification round it describes, but the 244 million figure belongs to Drake’s combined catalog. |
| The Eminem Show by Eminem | Guinness World Records reports that the album was RIAA-certified 12-times multi-platinum for 12 million U.S. units, with the latest certification described dated 8 March 2022. | An album certification, not a sales figure for any one track. The record entry also identifies The Eminem Show and The Marshall Mathers LP as the biggest-selling rap albums in the United States in that category. It names “Without Me,” “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” and “Business” among The Eminem Show singles. |
| The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill | Guinness World Records says the album received U.S. RIAA Diamond certification for 10 million units, confirmed on 17 February 2021. | An album-level U.S. certification, not a song total. An estimated worldwide album figure on the record page is still an album estimate; it does not establish sales for any individual song. |
How to read these figures
Certification units are not the same as copies sold
For “Old Town Road,” the 10 million figure is the number of U.S. units represented by its RIAA Diamond certification as described by Guinness, including sales and streaming equivalents. Calling it “10 million copies sold” would overstate what that measure says. The RIAA Gold & Platinum database is the primary U.S. lookup for certification records, but its awards should be read within that U.S. scope.
A catalog total cannot rank its individual songs
Drake’s 244 million U.S. certified digital-single units combine results across an artist’s catalog. The figure does not say how those units are divided among “God’s Plan,” “In My Feelings,” “One Dance” or other releases, so it cannot be used to rank those tracks against one another.
Rank #2
An album award cannot stand in for a song award
The Eminem Show and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill certifications describe albums. Their songs may be commercially significant, but the album totals do not quantify any track’s sales.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What a defensible comparison would require
Before comparing any claimed “best-selling” rap song, check that the figures match on four points:
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- First-ever pressing of Ken Carson's debut studio album, Project X, for its 5-year anniversary
- Geography: Is the result for the United States, another named territory or an attributed worldwide estimate?
- Measure: Does it count physical copies, paid digital purchases, certified units or streaming equivalents?
- Object: Is the number for a specific recording, a remix, an artist’s catalog or an album?
- Date and genre: When was the figure recorded or certified, and does the source classify the track as rap, rap-adjacent or crossover?
Guinness World Records cautions that “Records change on a daily basis and are not immediately published online.” Its dated entries are therefore snapshots, not a live, comprehensive ranking. The Drake figure, for example, is explicitly dated 17 April 2024.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
- 2Pac's Greatest Hits is the posthumous collection originally released in November 1998
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