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Jay-Z’s ‘4:44’ Goes Platinum In Six Days

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Jay-Z’s latest studio album, “4:44,” has been certified platinum by the RIAA, based solely on Tidal streaming and Sprint downloads alone, and less than six days after it dropped on June 30.

The news was delivered Wednesday morning (July 5) by both the RIAA and Jay’s label, Roc Nation.

“Props to JAY, he’s done it again! Another Platinum album adds to an already iconic career,” RIAA CEO Cary Sherman said in a statement.

According to Roc Nation, all 13 of Hov’s studio albums have gone platinum, more than any other rap artist — as well as four other platinum albums in collaboration with Kanye West, Linkin Park and R. Kelly.

According to Variety, the RIAA began including streaming numbers into album certifications on Feb. 1, 2016, using a formula similar to that of Nielsen Music’s whereby 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video song streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale.

However, a source close to the situation said that “a sale counts toward a certification if purchased directly by the customer — or a business can purchase the album or song and offer it to fans, who must take affirmative steps to acquire the album or song.

“4:44” was released at 12:01 a.m. on June 30, exclusively to Tidal and Sprint members. According to Variety, the move angered users who signed up for Tidal after the album’s release but could not access it, although that decision was reversed and it was made available to all Tidal members on Monday.

The album is expected to be made available physically and on other services — reportedly including Apple Music — this Friday (July 7), after its week of exclusivity on Tidal ends.

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