These Are the Best-Selling Hip-Hop Songs Since 1991
The best-selling hip-hop songs over the last three decades come from some of the most popular rappers in the game like Jay-Z, Eminem, Nicki Minaj and Drake.
With that in mind, XXL highlights the best-selling hip-hop songs since 1991 in a ranking based on research from Luminate, an entertainment data and insights company. Luminate began tracking sales data in 1991. The calculations come from the data service's R&B/Hip-Hop Songs' Top Digital Song Sales (excluding streams) as of March 23, 2023. R&B songs are removed since XXL focuses mainly on hip-hop.
Not surprisingly, Eminem appears on the list several times. The Detroit rapper is, arguably, one of the greatest rappers of all time with estimated sales of over 220 million records worldwide. Em has a plethora of hits and some of them, including his Oscar Award-winning song "Lose Yourself," are featured here.
Fellow rhymer Kanye West is another major artist who notched several chart-topping hits during his career heyday in the mid-2000s. Ye's lauded tracks "Gold Digger" and "Stronger" are among his best-selling songs as well.
Meanwhile, Wiz Khalifa managed to have two of the biggest-selling songs in a five-year span. In 2010, the Pittsburgh, Pa. rhymer's hometown anthem "Black and Yellow" became a worldwide sports anthem. Then in 2015, Wiz's elegiac song "See You Again" featuring Charlie Puth became a global hit and the fastest-selling song worldwide.
Other hip-hop heavyweights like Hov are among the rap's best-sellers.
It could be a surprise to find out which artists have the best-selling hip-hop song since 1991—purely based on digital sales—but you have to check out the list below to find out.