What is a double diamond certified song? Kendrick Lamar to become the second artist with the record for his track 'Humble'

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Kendrick Lamar's track became the double diamond certified song (Image via Getty Images)

Kendrick Lamar has been in the spotlight lately since his song Humble has sold over 20 million copies, and is now eligible for double-diamond status. When it gets certified, the record will be the first double-diamond rap tune ever released.

Only one song to date has achieved the status. The song in question was Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee, which was featured on the 2018 soundtrack to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The key difference between the two is that Sunflower, which leans further into pop territory, was not classified as a true rap song.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, a single must sell 20 million copies in the United States to be certified Double-Diamond. These units could be downloads or on-demand audio or video single streams, with each download transaction and 150 on-demand streams being considered as one unit.

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Kendrick Lamar has had many achievements in recent days

Kendrick Lamar started the year on a good note (Image via Getty Images)
Kendrick Lamar started the year on a good note (Image via Getty Images)

The Diamond award was established in 1999 for albums or singles that sold 10 million copies. It is a double-diamond album if 20 million copies are sold. The sales level linked to a specific award depends on the award's date of issuance.

After receiving millions of plays, Post Malone and Swae Lee's song Sunflower became the first to earn a double-diamond certification. Kendrick Lamar's 2017 smash song and DAMN track Humble became the second.

Having officially sold 20 million copies, it is only the second to do so following Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee.

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Lamar is having a fruitful year, having begun it by winning five Grammys for his Drake diss track, Not Like Us. He won in every category for which he received nominations— Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, Best Music Video, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.

In the process of doing so, he further made history with it being the first Grammy-winning diss track. He also performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show and announced a pre-Super Bowl interview with Apple Music.

He further gained popularity when he directed his diss tune at Drake during the Super Bowl Halftime Show. In a supposed shot at Drake, he sang "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A-Minor," and the Superdome audience joined in, singing along.

He reportedly called Drizzy a p*dophile with this line, additionally, asserting that the Toronto rapper is attracted to young women. Meanwhile, TDE released Humble, which received the double-diamond, in collaboration with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records, along with an accompanying music video on March 30, 2017.

It was the lead single from Lamar's fourth studio album as a solo artist. Since Humble was not only Kendrick Lamar's second number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, but also his first time as the lead artist, it held great significance for him.

As per Billboard's October 2024 report, the song was on the Hot 100 for 37 weeks and Lamar's Billboard 200 No. 1 album Damn. Kendrick Lamar previously achieved the milestone when he featured on Taylor Swift's song Bad Blood.

Additionally, as of this writing, it has surpassed 1 billion views and had 8.6M likes on YouTube.

At the 60th annual ceremony, Humble was nominated for four Grammy Awards that year and went on to win Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay
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