Music mogul Jay-Z earns his third Diamond single for the ode to New York hit single “Empire State Of Mind.” The song which features Alicia Keys was issued a Diamond certified award by the Recording Industry Association Of America for selling 10,000,000 units in streams and sales in the US on Wednesday July 24.
This is Alicia Keys’ first song to reach the milestone. Jay-Z’s other Diamond certified singles are N***as in Paris with Kanye West and Umbrella with Rihanna.
Regarded as New York’s biggest anthem, The Roc-Nation boss and Alicia Keys performed their smash hit “Empire State Of Mind” at the 77th Annual Tony Awards at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater last month.
A highlight of the night, celebrating Keys, a producer and the musical scorer for Hell’s Kitchen, the musical which was a contender for Best Musical at the event.
“Had to do something crazy, it’s my hometown,” Keys exclaimed, rallying the crowd before passing the spotlight to Jay-Z. The rapper appeared on a video screen, performing his verses from a set of stairs in the theater’s lobby, and then joined Keys via the screen, enhancing the stage’s visual impact.
The duo has performed “Empire State of Mind,” together multiple times since its release on October 20, 2009, as the third single from Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 album. Their first time was at the “Answer the Call” concert at Madison Square Garden on September 11, 2009to raise funds for the New York Police and Fire Widows and Children’s Fund. Two days later they closed the MTV Video Music Awards where Lil Mama infamously crashed their set by entering the stage to stand beside the two music powerhouses.
The song which samples Moments’ “Love on a Two-Way Street” written by Angela Hunte and Janet Sewell-Ulepic became Jay-Z’s first US Billboard No. 1 song as a lead artist for five consecutive weeks.
It also topped the charts in the Czech Republic and Greece, reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, Ireland, and the Netherlands. In Australia, it climbed to No. 4, while it secured top 10 positions in Canada, Germany, and France. Notably, it was a significant success in the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, both of which it topped. The song maintained strong positions in various international markets and continued to receive airplay in South Korea and Poland into the 2010s.
“Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z has garnered multiple other certifications around the world: in Australia, it achieved 3× Platinum status with 210,000 units sold. The song was certified Gold in Austria and Denmark (15,000 units). In Belgium, it reached Platinum with 30,000 units sold, while in Brazil, it went 2× Platinum with 120,000 units. The song also received Gold certification in France for 150,000 units and Platinum in Germany for 300,000 units. In Italy, it achieved 2× Platinum (60,000). In Japan, the song earned Gold certification for both general sales and digital PC singles, each with 100,000 units. In New Zealand, it was certified Platinum with 15,000 units sold. Remarkably, in South Korea, it sold 1,544,543 units. In the United Kingdom, it reached 2× Platinum status with 770,000 units sold.
