Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time
Rap music is generally cited as the biggest music genre in the world. It has also seen multiple rappers make the top best selling artists of all time lists. Below is the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time, This list has rappers who have sold millions of albums and have had careers that have stood the test of time.
Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time
1. Eminem – 220 million Album Sales
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, and actor. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. He is the only artist to have nine albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard200. With over 220 million records sold globally, Eminem is among the world’s best-selling artists of all time making him one of the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time.
2. Kanye West – 132 million Album Sales
Kanye Omari West, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer. His musical career has been marked by dramatic changes in styles, incorporating an eclectic range of influences from soul, baroque-pop, electro, indie rock, synth-pop, industrial and gospel. West is among the most critically acclaimed musicians of the 21st century and one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 120 million records sold worldwide. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time and the most Grammy-awarded artist of his generation. Three of his albums have been included and ranked on Rolling Stone‘s 2012 update of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list and he ties with Bob Dylan for having topped the annual Pazz & Jop critic poll the most number of times ever, with four number-one albums each. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015.
3. Jay-Z – 100 million Album Sales
Shawn Corey Carter known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, songwriter, and record producer. He is one of the most acclaimed rappers of all time. Jay-Z is one of the world’s best-selling music artists. He has received 21 Grammy Awards, tied with Kanye West for the most by a rapper. He also holds the record for the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200, and has recorded four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The same publication ranked him as the biggest artist of the 2000s, while Rolling Stone named him one of the 100 greatest artists of all time. He is the first rapper to be honored at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017 and to receive the “Salute to Industry Icons Award” at the 60th Grammy Awards
4. Lil Wayne – 100 million Album Sales
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. Lil Wayne’s career began in 1991 at the age of nine, when he was discovered by Bryan “Birdman” Williams. On September 27, 2012, Lil Wayne passed Elvis Presley as the male with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 109 songs. The record has since been passed by other artists. His twelfth studio album, Tha Carter V, was released in 2018 after multiple delays. Lil Wayne has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including more than 15 million albums and 37 million digital tracks in the United States, making him one of the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time.
5. Chris Brown – 100 million Album Sales
Christopher Brown is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year.Brown has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Throughout his career, Brown has won several awards, including a Grammy Award, 14 BET Awards, 5 Billboard Music Awards, and 5 Soul Train Music Awards. According to Billboard, Brown has the seventh most Hot 100 entries on the chart with 90. Making him one of the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time
6. Drake – 96 million Album Sales
Aubrey Drake Graham known mononymously as Drake, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. His rapping ability has been noted as “polarizing”, and has contributed to him being named one of the most divisive rappers of his generation by multiple critics and media publications. Drake holds several Billboard chart records. He has the most charted songs (186) among solo artists in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, the most simultaneously charted Hot 100 songs in a single week , the most time on the Hot 100 and the most Hot 100 debuts in a week . He also has the most number one singles on the Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Charts. Drake has also won three Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, and fifteen Billboard Music Awards. He is the RIAA’s top certified digital singles artist and one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with more than 95 million records sold globally. Making him one of the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time
7. Nicki Minaj -85 million Album Sales
Onika Tanya Maraj, known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Minaj has been called one of the most influential female rap artists. Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades, including six American Music Awards, 11 BET Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award, and 10 Grammy Award nominations. Minaj has sold 20 million singles as a lead artist, 60 million singles as a featured artist, and over five million albums worldwide, making her one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Making her one of the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time
8. Flo Rida – 80 million Album Sales
Tramar Lacel Dillard, known professionally as Flo Rida, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and composer from Carol City, Florida. His 2008 breakout single “Low” was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital download sales at the time of its release.Flo Rida has sold over 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists. Making him one of the Top 10 Best Selling Rap Artists Of All Time.
9. Tupac Shakur – 75 million Album Sales
Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known by his stage name 2Pac, was an American rapper and actor. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest hip hop artists of all time. Shakur was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City but relocated to Los Angeles in 1988. Shakur is one of the best-selling music artists of all time having sold over 75 million records worldwide. Much of Shakur’s work has been noted for addressing contemporary social issues that plagued inner cities, and he is considered a symbol of resistance and activism against inequities.
10. 50 Cent – 30 Million Album Sales
Curtis James Jackson III, known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television producer, entrepreneur, and investor. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of the borough of Queens, Jackson began selling drugs at age twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. 50 Cent has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and won several awards, including a Grammy Award, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and four BET Awards.
