It took a couple of years, but Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” single sold 5 million digital downloads. The track, released off Hov’s The Blueprint 3 album has become his most successful single to date, surpassing Rihanna’s Umbrella, where he spit a fluid 16.
Rih Rih’s debut single off her Good Girl Gone Bad sold an impressive 4,089,000 copies, falling short of becoming Jay’s highest selling single by close to a million.
In the case of Keys, “Empire State of Mind” is also her most successful single second to “No One” off 2007’s I Am. Keys is currently working on her fifth release Girl On Fire, which is led by the uplifting track “New Day” produced by her husband, Swizz Beatz. “I’m in the studio right now working away on my new album and I am SO excited!!! I’m ignited!!! I’m like a match to a flame! I’ve had the title of this album in my mind for a long time….It’s been hard to hold it back and now I’m not holding it back anymore! It is called Girl on Fire!!! And that’s exactly how I feel!!!” Keys wrote on her website.
No word yet on when Girl on Fire will drop, but given the success of “Empire State of Mind,” she and Jay may want to think about re-creating that musical magic.
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