Which Rapper Has The Most Platinum Albums Ever?

You don't have to listen to a rapper expound on their life's philosophy for very long to hear that many consider hip-hop to be a "competitive sport." If we consider that particular chestnut of conventional wisdom to be true then one of the ways you can measure who is winning "the game" is by going to the statistics. Who made the most amount of money? Who call sell out the biggest venue? Who can charge the most for a guest feature?

One of hip-hop's consistent benchmarks for determining success is the platinum album. After all the work that goes into writing, recording, producing and promoting an album, going platinum is in many ways ultimate validation for an artist. It is nice to be validated by fans in the form of commercial sales.

While there are hundreds of artists who have released a platinum album over their career, there are the select few that have done it more than once. But who has the most platinum albums ever? XXL has compiled a list of  the rappers who have the most platinum albums ever in their career.

Eazy-E

Number Of Platinum Albums: 6

• Straight Outta Compton (with N.W.A) (1988)
• 100 Miles and Runnin' EP (with N.W.A) (1990)
• Eazy-Duz-It (1990)
• Niggaz4Life (with N.W.A) (1991)
• It's On (Dr. Dre) 187^um Killa (1992)
• The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 (with N.W.A) (1999)

Method Man

Number Of Platinum Albums: 6

• Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (with Wu-Tang Clan) (1993)
• Tical (1994)
• Wu-Tang Forever (with Wu-Tang Clan) (1997)
• Tical 2000: Judgment Day (1998)
• Blackout! (with Redman) (1999)
• The W (with Wu-Tang Clan) (2000)

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Number Of Platinum Albums: 6

• Creepin on ah Come Up EP (1994)
•  E. 1999 Eternal (1995)
•  The Art of War (1997)
• The Collection: Vol. 1 (1998)
• BTNHResurrection (2000)
• Greatest Hits (2004)

Dr. Dre

Number Of Platinum Albums: 6

• Straight Outta Compton (with N.W.A) (1988)
• 100 Miles and Runnin' EP (with N.W.A) (1990)
• Niggaz4Life (with N.W.A) (1991)
• The Chronic (1992)
• 2001 (1999)
• The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 (with N.W.A) (1999)

Kanye West

Number Of Platinum Albums: 6

• The College Dropout (2004)
• Late Registration (2005)
• Graduation (2007)
• 808s & Heartbreak (2008)
• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
• Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z) (2011)

Too $hort

Number Of Platinum Albums: 6

• Life Is... Too Short (1988)
• Short Dog's in the House (1990)
• Shorty The Pimp (1992)
• Get in Where You Fit In (1993)
• Cocktails (1995)
• Gettin' It (1996)

OutKast

Number Of Platinum Albums: 7

• Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)
• ATLiens (1996)
• Aquemini (1998)
• Stankonia (2000)
• Big Boi & Dre Presents... OutKast (2001)
• Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
• Idlewild (2006)

LL Cool J

Number Of Platinum Albums: 7

• Radio (1985)
• Bigger and Deffer (1987)
• Walking with a Panther (1989)
• Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)
• Mr. Smith (1995)
• All World: Greatest Hits (1996)
• Phenomenon (1997)

Beastie Boys

Number Of Platinum Albums: 7

• Licensed to Ill (1986)
• Paul's Boutique (1989)
• Check Your Head (1992)
• Ill Communication (1994)
• Hello Nasty (1998)
• The Sounds Of Science (1999)
• To the 5 Boroughs (2004)

Snoop Dogg

Number Of Platinum Albums: 7

• Doggystyle (1993)
• Tha Doggfather (1996)
• Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998)
• No Limit Top Dogg (1999)
• Tha Last Meal (2000)
• Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002)
• R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004)

Nas

Number Of Platinum Albums: 7

• Illmatic (1994)
• It Was Written (1996)
• I Am... (1999)
• Nastradamus (1999)
• Stillmatic (2001)
• The Lost Tapes (2002)
• God's Son (2002)
• Street's Disciple (2004)

Ice Cube

Number Of Platinum Albums: 8

• Straight Outta Compton (with N.W.A) (1999)
• AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)
• Kill At Will EP (1990)
• Death Certificate (1991)
• The Predator (1992)
•  Lethal Injection (1993)
• War & Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc) (1998)
• The N.W.A Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988–1998 (with N.W.A) (1999)

Eminem

Number Of Platinum Albums: 10

• The Slim Shady LP (1999)
• The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
• Devil's Night (with D12) (2001)
• The Eminem Show (2002)
• D12 World (with D12) (2004)
• Encore (2004)
• Curtain Call: The Hits (2005)
• Relapse (2009)
• Recovery (2010)
• The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)

2Pac

Number Of Platinum Albums: 10

• 2Pacalypse Now (1991)
• Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993)
• Me Against the World (1995)
• All Eyez on Me (1996)
•  The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
• R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (1997)
• Greatest Hits (1999)
• Still I Rise (with The Outlawz) (1999)
• Until The End Of Time (2001)
• Better Dayz (2002)
• Tupac Resurrection (2003)
• Loyal To The Game (2004)

Jay Z

Number Of Platinum Albums: 15

• Reasonable Doubt (1996)
• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)
• Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)
• Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
• The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
• The Blueprint (2001)
• The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse (2002)
• The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly) (2002)
• The Black Album (2003)
• Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly) (2004)
• Collision Course (with Linkin Park) (2004)
• Kingdom Come (2006)
• American Gangster (2007)
• The Blueprint 3 (2009)
• Watch the Throne (with Kanye West) (2011)
• Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013