As reported by VIBE, Alicia Keys has achieved the monumental status of being a diamond-certified artist, as confirmed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
As of July 24th, her collaboration with JAY-Z, "Empire State Of Mind," has attained Diamond certification, having sold over 10 million units since its release in 2009.
Keys expressed her excitement on X (Twitter), exclaiming, "Empire is diamond!!!" The announcement was also made official by Roc Nation.
This achievement marks Keys' first Diamond single and JAY-Z's third. JAY-Z previously attained Diamond certification in 2023 with his Kanye West collaboration, "N***as In Paris," from their joint album, Watch The Throne. His second Diamond certification came in May with Rihanna's "Umbrella."
Recently, the song surpassed one billion streams, and the duo reunited to perform it at the 2024 Tony Awards. Keys teased about future plans, stating, "1 Dream. 1 Song. 1 Billion streams. Thank you! We love you. What’s next…."
Reflecting on the song's significance, Keys shared with Billboard in 2017, "When we first finished 'Empire,' we all wondered if it would be too 'New York.' We wondered if everyone would be able to understand it. Little did we know EVERYONE would understand it because it’s not just about New York, it’s about the HOPE that New York represents; the possibility. The chance to follow your dreams no matter who you are or where you come from."
"Empire State of Mind" held the No. 1 spot for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009 and has since become one of the most significant records in their personal discographies.
During her appearance on Drink Champs in 2021, Keys admitted that the collaboration with JAY-Z nearly didn't happen.
"In this particular case, [JAY-Z] had the record. He was reaching out to me to do the record for a minute. And for whatever reason, the people that represented me did not tell me about the record," Keys explained. "I don’t know why. Could you imagine if 'Empire' never got to me?"
She also shared her initial struggles with the song, recalling,
"The first time I recorded it in L.A., the s**t just didn’t work. I thought it sounded good, but [JAY-Z] called me and was like, 'You think you can do them vocals again?' I was like, what? What’s wrong with my vocals? My vocals are fresh. But to be honest and to be fair, I was sick. And you could kind of hear it. I went back in, I did it in New York, the energy was right. You can’t do a New York record in L.A. That’s just wrong."
Additionally, she recorded an acoustic version of "Empire State Of Mind" for her album, The Element Of Freedom.
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