Chris Brown continues to rack up more certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The R&B megastar has earned more than 20 new awards from the RIAA, including 8x platinum certs for “Forever” and “Loyal” featuring Tyga and Lil Wayne. Both tracks have sold over eight million equivalent units in the U.S.
“Forever,” produced by Polow Da Don, was initially recorded for a 2008 Doublemint commercial and later included on Brown’s Exclusive: The Forever Edition, an expanded version of his second album.
The T-Pain-assisted “Kiss Kiss,” also from Exclusive, is now 6x platinum with six million equivalent units sold.
In an interview with Rated R&B, Polow Da Don shared the story behind creating “Forever.” “Shout out to my boy Steve Stoute. He was the guy who tied corporate and culture together through marketing. He was doing a campaign for Doublemint. He said, ‘Polow, I got this idea. You know the street but understand pop music. What I’m trying to do is hard to do. I want to make a commercial that is disguised as a song.’ He’s like, ‘Nobody wants to listen to a three-minute commercial, so how can we make a commercial disguised as a song?'”
Polow continued, “What’s dope about ‘Forever’ is it wasn’t a song that Doublemint used; it was Doublemint’s commercial from the jump that we made a song. That’s why ‘double your pleasure, double your fun’ is in the hook. It was a commercial the whole time. It was like, ‘We got to make something that is dance [and] global, but not corny.’ I think with Chris Brown being who he is, we were able to accomplish all those things.”
Brown also received multi-platinum plaques for “Go Crazy” with Young Thug (6x platinum), “New Flame” featuring Usher and Rick Ross (4x platinum), “Back To Sleep” featuring Tank, R. Kelly and Anthony Hamilton (4x platinum), “Deuces” featuring Tyga and Kevin McCall (4x platinum) and “Don’t Wake Me Up” (3x platinum), among others.
It’s also worth noting that Brown’s Grammy-nominated hit, “Residuals,” is officially certified platinum, with one million equivalent units sold. It’s the second song certified from his Grammy-winning album, 11:11 (Deluxe), following “Angel Numbers / Ten Toes,” which was certified gold.
In May, Brown scored a diamond certification for “Look at Me Now” featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, marking his second award following his Drake-assisted hit “No Guidance.”
Brown’s new RIAA certifications come ahead of his Breezy Bowl XX World Tour, which kicks off June 8 in Amsterdam. He will perform throughout the U.K. and Europe before wrapping up July 5 in Paris.
On July 30, Brown will begin the North American leg in Miami with stops in Detroit, Montréal, Chicago, Las Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles and more. The tour will wrap up Oct. 8 in Washington, D.C.
Shortly after kicking off his tour, Brown will release his new single “Holy Blindfold” on June 13.
Here is an overview of Chris Brown’s 20 new RIAA certifications:
- “Forever” (8x Platinum, eight million units sold)
- “Loyal” featuring Tyga & Lil Wayne (8x Platinum)
- “Go Crazy” with Young Thug (6x Platinum)
- “Kiss Kiss” featuring T-Pain (6x Platinum)
- “New Flame” featuring Usher & Rick Ross (4x Platinum)
- “Deuces” featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall (4x Platinum)
- “Back to Sleep” featuring Tank, R. Kelly & Anthony Hamilton (4x Platinum)
- “Don’t Wake Me Up” (3x Platinum)
- “Grass Ain’t Greener” (2x Platinum)
- “Don’t Judge Me” (2x Platinum)
- “Next to You” featuring Justin Bieber (2x Platinum)
- “No BS” featuring Kevin McCall (Platinum)
- “Drunk Texting” featuring Jhené Aiko (Platinum)
- “Hope You Do” (Platinum)
- “Residuals” (Platinum)
- “Who’s Gonna (Nobody)” (Gold, 500,000 units sold)
- “Beg for It” (Gold)
- “Til I Die” featuring Big Sean & Wiz Khalifa (Gold)
- “2012” (Gold)
- “Should’ve Kissed You” (Gold)
- “City Girls” (Gold)
