Shatta Wale Becomes 1st Ghana-based Musician To Get RIAA Gold-Certified As Beyonce's Already Sells Over 500k
- Ghanaian Dancehall singer Shatta Wale has received his first-ever gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
- The award is for Shatta Wale's collaboration with Beyonce on Already, one of the songs on the American's Lion King: The Gift album which also featured Major Lazer
- By this feat, Shatta Wale has become the first Ghana-based musician to receive to be certified by RIAA and the second Ghanaian ever
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Dancehall music star Shatta Wale has made history as the first Ghana-based musician to receive a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Shatta Wale has achieved the feat through his collaboration with Beyonce. The American superstar featured Shatta Wale and on Already which also had Major Lazer on it.
Released on July 19, 2019, Already was part of Beyonce's The Lion King album which was made as a music project for the movie Black Is King. One year after the song's release, Beyonce released its video as part of a visual album.
Source: UGC
On Monday, August 8, 2022, the RIAA announced that it had given the song a gold certificate. Already was part of many songs published on RIAA's official website
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RIAA Gold certification
According to the RIAA, for any song or album to be certified as gold, it must have sold 500,000 units in the United States.
This means that the Already song has made the mark three years after its release.
Shatta Wale is the second Ghanaian after Fuse ODG
While Shatta Wale is the first Ghana-based musician to chalk such a feat, he becomes the second Ghanaian to be awarded by the RIAA.
United Kingdom-based singer Fuse ODG, who is largely considered British, was the first. Fuse's collaboration with Major Lazer and Nyla Light It Up Remix has been certified as double platinum, which is over two million copies sold.
Released in 2015, the song received its gold certification in 2017 before going 2x platinum on September 15, 2021.
Stonebwoy apologises to Nigerians
Fellow Ghanaian star, Stonebwoy, apologized for supporting Shatta Wale’s utterances about Nigerian singers.
Grammy-winning singer, Burna Boy, reacted after Shatta Wale, accused Nigerian artistes of not loving and supporting their musicians.
Taking to his Instagram story, Burna Boy addressed the issue in a series of posts and stated that if people never helped others that they could not gain from, then they can’t cry for their help or feel entitled to it.
Source: YEN.com.gh
