While many can argue who was the “man” in 2004, it may come as a surprise to no one that Usher’s name was spoken more than it’s fair share of the time. Now it’s official, it indeed has been Usher’s year and The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has confirmed it by naming Confessions as the most-shipped album of 2004.
The association credits the singer for shipping (but not necessarily selling) 8 million copies of his smash third album according to Billboard magazine. The radio smash “Yeah” also took honors in the RIAA’s digital-awards program, earning a digital platinum certification for more than 200,000 downloads. “Burn” and “My Boo” were awarded digital gold for more than 100,000 downloads.
Kanye West had the best debut by a male with 2 million shipments of his piece of work The College Dropout. Outkast were given a Diamond Award for shipping 10 million copies of their double album Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, in addition to a multi-platinum digital award for “Hey Ya!” and platinum recognition for “Roses” and “The Way You Move.”
