It has only been four years since rising Atlanta rappers Gunna and Lil Baby joined forces to drop their joint album Drip Harder, which arguably helped make them both bonafide rap stars, if not household names. Yet, in those short years, the lead single from the project, “Drip Too Hard,” has reached a high watermark fewer than 100 other songs have ever achieved: receiving a Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The Diamond certification marks ten million equivalent units sold. For digital awards, a unit is defined as a digital download or 150 streams.
In the history of the RIAA’s 70-year existence, only 86 songs had reached this mark before “Drip Too Hard.” Included on that list are all-time favorites like Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” certified in January this year, “Thriller,” certified in August, and “Candle In The Wind” by Elton John. Rappers who’ve made the list include Eminem, whose 2010 single “Not Afraid” reached DIamond in June 2014, Wiz Khalifa (“See You Again,” 2019), Drake (“God’s Plan,” 2019), and Lil Nas X, whose debut single “Old Town Road” was mistakenly reported Diamond-certified less than a year after its release and later actually crossed the finish line in January 2021.
Unfortunately, only one of the two is free to celebrate their remarkable achievement. Gunna remains imprisoned, awaiting trial as he and Young Thug are accused of racketeering and other criminal activity. Meanwhile, Lil Baby is preparing the release of his third studio album, It’s Only Me, which is coming in October.
Check out the video for “Drip Too Hard” above.