2Pac Chases Hammer

07/02/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(7/2/98) - All Eyez On Me, the 1996 double-album by late rapper 2Pac, has been certified for sales of 9 million copies by the Recording Industry Association Of America, making it the first hardcore rap album to achieve such heights. It's also the second best-selling rap album of all time, trailing only M.C. Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em, which has been certified for sales of 10 million.

Those unfamiliar with the RIAA certifications, however, should note that each unit in a multi-disc set counts as a unit towards a certification, so All Eyez On Me has actually shipped 4.5 million copies, but it counts as 9 million for certifications.

Others reaching new heights in the June certifications released by the RIAA include Pink Floyd, whose landmark 1973 album Dark Side Of The Moon reached the 15 million mark, making Pink Floyd the only act to have two albums with sales of 15 million or more. (The band's 1979 double-album, The Wall, was previously certified for 22 million.)

Another veteran act, Aerosmith, racked up its 11th multi-platinum album with Nine Lives, its first studio album for Columbia in 15 years, hitting the 2 million mark.

The publicity surrounding the Lilith Fair is continuing to move boatloads of albums, as Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and Surfacing each hit the three million mark.

Also scoring triple-platinum is Jeff Foxworthy's Games Rednecks Play, which becomes the highest-certified comedy album ever.