Rihanna – Def Jam Recordings (UMG)
In 2005 Jay-Z signed Rihanna to Def Jam Recordings. She left Def Jam in 2014 and signed to Jay-Z’s label Roc Nation, which isn’t owned by one of the Big Three. If I had to write about what Rihanna did while at Def Jam we’d be here all day. So here are some highlights.
Under Def Jam, Rihanna released seven albums: Music of the Sun, A Girl Like Me, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rated R, Loud, Talk that Talk, and Unapologetic. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has certified all of them platinum or multi-platinum
To achieve platinum status an album or song has to sell one million units. For every million units sold thereafter, up to nine million, it’s certified multi-platinum; 2x platinum for two million, 3x platinum for three million, etc. At ten million units it’s certified diamond.
Rihanna’s highest certified Def Jam release is Good Girl Gone Bad at 6x platinum. Loud, Talk That Talk, and Unapologetic are 3x platinum, A Girl Like Me and Rated R are 2x platinum and Music of the Sun is 1x platinum.
Of the music she released while at Def Jam, both solo and collaborations, eight songs have been certified platinum, twenty-six have been certified multi-platinum, and one has been certified diamond; “Love The Way You Lie” with Eminem.
Rihanna has fourteen number 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Thirteen are from her time at Def Jam. She has more Billboard number ones than Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson. Her Billboard numbers ones are more than double that of Adele and Ariana Grande, twice as many as Beyonce, and almost double that of Taylor Swift.
Her work while at Def Jam has earned her eight Grammy Awards and American Music Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards.
She’s sold over 250 million records worldwide. 321.7 million certified sales, to be exact, according to the compiled list of best-selling music artists on Wikipedia. The only person with more certified sales on that list is Drake. In claimed sales she ranks seventh. The bulk of these sales were made during her time at Def Jam.
