Lauryn Hill’s 1998 debut album has sold more than 10,000,000 copies, making her the first female rapper to have a diamond record. On Tuesday evening (Feb. 16), the Music Industry Association of America (RIAA) revealed the incredible achievement.
This means that Hill has officially joined the exclusive RIAA diamond club, with artists that have produced some of the biggest global hit records over the decades. This elite club of fellow diamond status album artists includes Eminem, Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., OutKast and Beastie Boys.
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Welcome to the RIAA Diamond Club @MsLaurynHill! #TheMiseducationofLaurynHill is now a ? (10X) certified album! @ColumbiaRecords #BlackHistoryMonth #RIAATopCertified pic.twitter.com/mWWByv74kp
— RIAA (@RIAA) February 17, 2021
Hill’s album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has been loved by many across the world and made history at the 41st Grammy Awards where it was nominated 10 times and won a total of 5 awards. No other female artist had ever received that many nominations and awards in a single night.

Since then, outside of MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 , Hill did not release a follow up album. Explaining this to Rolling Stone magazine she shared that the album’s overwhelming success made her a threat in the music industry.
“With The Miseducation, there was no precedent. I was, for the most part, free to explore, experiment and express. After The Miseducation, there were scores of tentacled obstructionists, politics, repressing agendas, unrealistic expectations and saboteurs EVERYWHERE. People had included me in their own narratives of their successes as it pertained to my album, and if this contradicted my experience, I was considered an enemy.” she said.
She joins the elite club of brilliant diamond albums such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Adele’s 21, Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time.



