It is often said that rap’s success is essentially the success of urban music—a term encompassing urban pop as well as Afro genres, with artists such as Aya Nakamura and Dadju. However, the 2024 list of the top 10 most-streamed artists—including Jul, Ninho, Gazo, PLK, Tiakola, SDM, GIMS, Dadju, Damso, and Orelsan—shows that rappers have an impressive track record. Seven or eight of the year’s top 10 best-selling artists can be considered pure rap artists. Even GIMS, who often leaned towards urban pop, returned to rap classics with his 100% rap album, “Le Fléau”. So, it’s a misconception to think that rap is less popular than “urban pop”. Furthermore, compared to 90s rap, today’s rap “has changed a lot”, as Kery James pointed out in an interview with Mouv’.
What are the top 5 best-selling projects of the past five years?
Based on a comparative study, we can deduce, with some extrapolation:
Civilisation (Orelsan):
- First week (cumulative sales): 138,929 units.
- Certified diamond in 161 days, equating to at least 500,000 units.
- By 2024, total sales likely surpassed 800,000 units, factoring in a gradual decline after the first million converted streams.
Les Étoiles Vagabondes (Nekfeu):
- Certified diamond in less than a year: 500,000 units.
- Over five years, thanks to its streaming longevity, it reached 1 million sales equivalents.
Deux Frères (PNL):
- Certified diamond in February 2020, equating to 500,000 units.
- Certified double diamond in 2023: 1,000,000 units.
- Additional post-certification sales likely bring the total to 1,100,000 units.
Ipséité (Damso):
- Although released in 2017, it remains significant due to continued streaming performance.
- Certified double diamond with 1,000,000 cumulative units.
- Between 2020 and 2024, a substantial portion of these sales can reasonably be attributed to that period: approximately 700,000 units.
L’Éverest (Soprano):
However, the share of these sales recorded between 2020 and 2024 is smaller compared to more recent albums. Approximately 400,000 units were added during this timeframe.
Also certified double diamond, totaling 1,000,000 units.
No major surprises then!
