Rapper says he sold 10 million album units, is he lying?

Nyovest was standing beside a tall plaque that showed his achievements. And the congratulations poured in from fans all over the world. Selling 10 million albums or its equivalents is a big deal for an African artists, and represents a milestone. This certification are for his three albums “Tsholofelo” (2014), “Refiloe” (2015), and “Thuto” (2017).

“DREAMS COME TRUE!!! 10 million!!! 10 million!!! 10 million!!! Wow man!!! This plaque just got delivered to my house!!! I’ve passed 10 million units sold in my career!!!! We multi platinum!!! This one is for the fans!!! Your support is truly amazing!!! Fresh prince of Maftown!!!,” he tweeted.

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But wait. The singer might have rushed things a bit. Cassper Nyovest says he sold 10 million album units. But he was opposed by DJ Maphorisa, a popular DJ and music producer who called him out.

Maphorisa was having none of it, and also took to Twitter too to accuse Cassper of faking the numbers and lying to his fans.

“His lying 10 million streams not records sold amanga yakho makhi (your lies),” Maphorisa tweeted.

The tweet ignited a feud with Cassper’s fans and Maphorisa’s fans, both arguing on the milestones Cassper has reached in comparison to Maphorisa.

The hitmaker then let his tweeps know that Cassper blocked him on the social network, but went on to say he still loves the Doc Shebeleza rapper Cassper, and he was just being real by stating facts and not spreading negativity.

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Here’s why Maphorisa opposed Nyovest: Cassper was actually given a plaque for surpassing 10 million streams and more. Streams are not album sales, but they can be converted to album sales, and add to the count. That’s why you hear people say “1000 albums equivalents.” That means they didn’t sell CDs. They simply streamed the project until it got to an equivalent of 1000 albums.

But 10 million streams are just a part of it.

According to the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA), For an album to be certified gold status it should have sold over 15 000 copies, and 30 000 copies for platinum status. For streaming in the US, 150 streams of a song equals one paid download, and ten paid downloads equates to an album download. So, an artist’s music will have to be streamed on any of the approved, included services 1,500 times for an album “sale” to be counted. The South African standard is drastically lower than that, hence it will take less streams to equate to an album sold.

Interestingly, the RISA also counts music videos as a part of it too. 5,000 views of a music video makes the record go gold. 10,000 makes it platinum. It’s a complex system that involves lots of calculations. But they have done that, and arrived at Cassper Nyovest selling 10 million records.

To confirm, broadcast giants, SABC3 called RISA for confirmation on-air, and they did via the popular The Best Drive Show, stating that Cassper Nyovest has truly sold 10 million album units, inclusive of streams, videos, albums, digital sales and more.

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So yes, while the calculation to get there is complex, the body in charge of it for South Africa has confirmed that Cassper Nyovest is one of Africa’s best-selling rappers. 10 million records is no small feat.