Dancehall giant Sean Paul has officially become the first Jamaican artist in history to sell a Diamond-certified single in the United States, after his 2016 smash “Cheap Thrills” with Australian hitmaker Sia was awarded 11X Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Thursday, January 22.
The new certification confirms that Cheap Thrills has now surpassed 11 million units in U.S. sales and streaming equivalents, pushing it beyond the 10-million threshold required for the coveted Diamond standard.
The only other Jamaican with a Diamond certification in the US is Bob Marley and The Wailers whose album Legend is certified 18x Platinum for sales and streaming equivalent surpassing 18 million units.
Sean’s dancehall counterpart Shaggy’s 2000 classic album Hot Shot is currently certified 6 x platinum but has sold over 8.5 million units according to Luminate data shared with WMV. Hot Shot has sold 12 million units worldwide, however Gold, Platinum and Diamond certifications are country and territory specific.
For the past 60 years, the Recording Industry Association of America has honored music’s best through its Gold & Platinum Awards Program. When an artist earns a Gold & Platinum certification, they join the ranks of an elite group of beloved musicians in the US.
A Diamond milestone for Sean Paul
Already one of the most internationally successful Jamaican acts ever, the Kingston hitmaker has earned multiple Gold and Platinum awards throughout his career, Cheap Thrills is his first song to climb into Diamond territory, setting a new personal and national benchmark.
Sean Paul’s biggest U.S. certifications also include:
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4X Platinum – Bailando (with Enrique Iglesias)
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3X Platinum – Temperature
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3X Platinum – Rockabye (with Clean Bandit)
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2X Platinum – Do You Remember (with Jay Sean and Lil Jon)
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Platinum – Get Busy
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Platinum – We Be Burnin’
The Billboard legacy behind the plaque
Sean Paul has been a Billboard force since his breakthrough in 2000, and over the last two decades, he has built one of the most consistent chart legacies among Caribbean artists with 19 entries on the Hot 100.
He has scored:
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Four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles
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10 top 10 hits
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Global impact across pop, dance, hip-hop and reggae fusion
His chart-topping singles include the iconic run of:
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Get Busy
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Baby Boy (with Beyoncé)
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Temperature
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Cheap Thrills (with Sia)
How “Cheap Thrills” became a pop monster
Sia first released Cheap Thrills on her 2015 album This Is Acting, before tapping Sean Paul to jump on the remix in early 2016.
Blending Sia’s vibrant synth-pop approach with Sean Paul’s signature Jamaican flavor, the collaboration became unstoppable, dominating radio and streaming platforms.
The remix went on to:
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Spend four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100
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Top the Radio Songs chart for eight weeks, becoming one of Sean Paul’s strongest radio eras since his 2003 appearance on Beyoncé’s Baby Boy
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Earn both artists their first (and only) Grammy nomination in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category
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Finish at No. 66 on Billboard’s 2010s Decade-End Hot 100
Big win for Sia too
For Sia, the achievement marks her second RIAA Diamond single, following her global hit “Chandelier,” which reached Diamond status in 2024 — exactly a decade after its release, similar to the timeline Cheap Thrills followed.
