Drake’s Take Care has the kind of staying power most albums never approach. Nearly 15 years after its 2011 release, the project sits at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 in its 706th week on the chart.
That longevity gives its Diamond certification even greater weight. Take Care is the newest album among the 12 hip-hop projects officially certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing at least 10 million certified album-equivalent units in the United States. It is also the first rap album released during the 2010s to reach the milestone.
The album debuted at No. 1 with 631,000 copies sold during its opening week and helped define the emotional, genre-blending sound that reshaped mainstream rap. Its continued chart presence shows that songs including “Headlines,” “Marvins Room,” “The Motto” and the Rihanna-assisted title track remain part of the current listening economy.
Eminem leads hip-hop’s Diamond album club with three entries: The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show and Curtain Call: The Hits. His catalog dominated the CD era and continues to generate massive streaming activity.
2Pac follows with All Eyez on Me and 2Pac: Greatest Hits, reflecting demand that has remained strong decades after his death.
OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below carried Southern rap into blockbuster territory. The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death became one of hip-hop’s defining double albums. Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill remains the only solo album by a female rapper in the club.
Nelly’s Country Grammar, MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em and the Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Illcomplete the list.
RIAA rules count each disc in a multidisc album separately, and streaming allows older projects to keep accumulating units. Take Care provides the clearest modern example. Its Diamond plaque recognizes 10 million units. Its 706 weeks on Billboard reveal how deeply the album continues to live with listeners.