Waka Flocka’s 2010 rap hit has achieved rarefied air with a diamond certification.
Waka Flocka and his collaborators Wale and Roscoe Dash have achieved a monumental milestone. Their 2010 hit track “No Hands” is now certified diamond, meaning it’s hit platinum status 10 separate times. Ten million certified units is a lot and not something many songs accomplish. According to Insider, as of July 12th, there were only 116 songs in history that got to diamond status. The first ever diamond-certified song was Sir Elton John’s “Something About the Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind.” Sixteen years passed before the next diamond song, “Baby” by Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris.
The last song to get this designation before Waka Flocka’s “No Hands” was “Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Bieber. It was certified on June 23rd. Now, four weeks later, Waka Flocka and the gang have the 117th song to make it on the list. Michael Jackson, Drake, Post Malone, Lady Gaga, and many more artists have multiple diamond tracks. It’s essentially a glorified popularity contest, seeing who has the most streams, downloads, and listens of all time. Still, it’s wildly impressive that Waka Flocka got this honor. It took 13 years, but the wildly popular “No Hands” finally crossed the threshold.
Waka Flocka actually spoke about “No Hands” back in April. The New York rapper believes the song made a vital cultural impact back in its heyday and says it deserves a Grammy award. “How did I not get a [Grammy] for [‘No Hands’]?” Waka asked via Twitter a few months back. One responder attributed Kanye as the reason why, saying Ye “was blocking all rap noms that year.” That was the year when My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy racked up all the Grammy nominations and wins in Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for “All Of The Lights.”
While diamond certification isn’t a Grammy, per see, it’s still a major achievement, the first such achievement for all three artists on the track. The certification became official on Thursday, July 20th. This begs the question: What will the next diamond-certified song be?
