Do You Believe Illmatic Only Sold 1,686,000 Units?
- Thread starter 5 Grand
- Start date
CeLLar-DooR
OG
He lucky it got that. No real lead single, no famous rapper on the album, it's his debut and you'd kno' way more about its promotion than I but I can't imagine it was heavily advertised
ImaInfluenza
Who do you think you are? I am
Nah, I personally bought that shit 5 times over the years
It's not about how much it sold when it came out, it's the most critically acclaimed album in the History of Hip Hop.
If you go on google and type "the top 10 Hip Hop albums" I'm sure there will be pages and pages of top 10 lists and Illmatic will be on every single one of them.
I'm saying between Jan 2000-Now it must have sold at least 5 million copies, just because it's so critically acclaimed. People who didn't buy it, or weren't alive when it came out must have bought it since Jan 2000.
If you go on google and type "the top 10 Hip Hop albums" I'm sure there will be pages and pages of top 10 lists and Illmatic will be on every single one of them.
I'm saying between Jan 2000-Now it must have sold at least 5 million copies, just because it's so critically acclaimed. People who didn't buy it, or weren't alive when it came out must have bought it since Jan 2000.
RozayTabernacle
The Bawse
critical acclaim doesn't necessarily translate to sales
SheerExcellence
Active Member
i’m not surprised
somepeople say miles davis kind of blue is the best album ever, i think that joint is “only” at like 4 million. album sales don’t mean shit
most of the highest sellers are that way just because bunch of teenage white girls bought it. as far as i know teenage white girls never really fucked with nas.
somepeople say miles davis kind of blue is the best album ever, i think that joint is “only” at like 4 million. album sales don’t mean shit
most of the highest sellers are that way just because bunch of teenage white girls bought it. as far as i know teenage white girls never really fucked with nas.
I've heard the same thing about Kind Of Blue and I feel the same way about that album that I feel about Illmatic (coincidentally they're both on Columbia). Realistically anybody that gets into Jazz is going to buy a copy of Kind Of Blue. And the album is 60 years old. Considering the Earth's population is around 8 Billion people, and Kind of Blue is considered one of the greatest jazz albums of all time, it's nonsense that it only sold 4X Platinum.
According to Wikipedia:
Kind of Blue has been regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. The album was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and in 2003 it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 14 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [1]
Though precise figures have been disputed, Kind of Blue is often cited as the best-selling jazz record of all time. In 2008, it was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of at least four million copies.
Kind of Blue - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
If I was a gambling man I'd bet that both Illmatic and Kind Of Blue are closer to 40X platinum than 4X platinum.
I think it does over time. If you don't remember when Illmatic came out (or Kind of Blue) but you have an interest in music, there's certain albums that you'd buy to satisfy your curiosity.
According to Wikipedia Bob Marley doesn't have any platinum albums with the exception of Legend, the greatest hits album that sold 15X platinum. I have a hard time believing that Exodus isn't platinum. You'd have to be an idiot to believe that.
SheerExcellence
Active Member
i’m sure over 40 m ppl have heard kind of blue
but buying albums is a usa and british thing, always has been
why you think all the top artists primarily come from usa and great britian.
look at any “top albums of all time” list. 95% of them are from usa or GBR that’s a function of the record industry and people who buy. you telling me NO ONE in africa is making good music NO ONE (or very few) in south america is making good music? no.
is because we’re the only ones with enough money to buy a bunch of albums. so you saying 8 billion ppl worldwide is misleading.
but buying albums is a usa and british thing, always has been
why you think all the top artists primarily come from usa and great britian.
look at any “top albums of all time” list. 95% of them are from usa or GBR that’s a function of the record industry and people who buy. you telling me NO ONE in africa is making good music NO ONE (or very few) in south america is making good music? no.
is because we’re the only ones with enough money to buy a bunch of albums. so you saying 8 billion ppl worldwide is misleading.
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
It Ain't Hard To Tell was the lead single and it was everywhere. Everybody was bangin that shit.
He didn't need a famous rapper on the record. Nas had Live At The BBQ, Back To The Grill, and Halftime leading up to Illmatic. His name was known already and the press Illmatic was getting only made it more anticipated.
Well I can name three African artists; Miriam Makeba, King Sunny Ade and Fela Kuti. Wikipedia doesn't even have their sales figures.
I'm inclined to think that the RIAA/Soundscan has a conspiracy with the major record label conglomerates to underreport record sales. Because if you think about it, the CEOs of RIAA and Soundscan are in cahoots with the CEOs of Sony, Columbia, BMG, EMI, Universal, Warner, and Polygram.
I'm sure those guys play golf with each other every weekend.
RozayTabernacle
The Bawse
what are you smoking?
...I doubt all that. Or even if there was it would've been heard something about. Especially since you would need retailers in on it as well.
So basically you're saying that the idea of old white men ripping off Black artists is far fetched?
No. that big ass conspiracy you concocted is.
RozayTabernacle
The Bawse
artists make pennies (if that) on album sales, hows it worth the label's effort to hide that from the artist?
L3NU
San Diego taco eater
If anything it's in the labels interest to falsley inflate sales to generate hype and interest
OP just a old timer that's going senile