Platinum Rappers

More than 16 years after releasing his first greatest hits album “Curtain Call” in December 2005, Eminem dropped another best-of album on Friday. “Curtain Call 2” is a collection of Slim Shady’s greatest hits since his comeback in 2009, and while cynics may argue that it’s going to be a short album then, less critical listeners will find plenty of hit singles neatly rolled into one package.

And while critics aren’t overly impressed with Eminem’s latest work - Pitchfork called it “the portrait of a wayward artist who’s spent the last 13 years going in every direction” - there’s no arguing with his commercial success. According to data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Eminem has sold more albums in his home country than any other rap artist, past or present, and that is even accounting for streams, which are converted into album sales 1,500 on-demand streams to 1.

With 61.5 million albums sold, Eminem is among the 20 best-selling artists of all time in the U.S., ahead of legends such as Celine Dion, Bob Dylan and U2. As the following chart shows, no other rapper can hold the mic to Marshall Mathers in terms of album sales. With 36.5 million units sold, 2Pac, who passed away in 1996, comes closest, with Jay-Z third with 27.5 million (solo) albums sold.