YG Marley’s debut single, Praise Jah In The Moonlight, is now certified Gold in the United States and Platinum in Canada.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the song Gold on Friday (June 20) after it reached the sales and streaming equivalent of 500,000 units sold in the US.
On Monday (June 24), Music Canada certified it Platinum after the song surpassed 80,000 units sold in that country.
Praise Jah In The Moonlight opens with a vocal sample from Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1978 track Crisis and also credits his mother, Lauryn Hill, as a co-writer and co-producer. Marley, born Joshua Omaru Marley, is the son of Rohan Marley, an entrepreneur and son of Reggae legend Bob Marley.
The song gained popularity after one of Marley’s performances on his mother’s “Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill” tour in late 2023 and took off on TikTok, leading to its official release on December 27, 2023.
Since then, it has seen significant global success, reaching No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 20 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 1 on the New Zealand Songs Chart, No. 11 on the Billboard Global 200, and the top 20 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The song has picked up over 307 million plays on Spotify, while the official music video, released in April this year, currently has almost 10 million views on YouTube.
YG and Hill’s first performance of the song in Jamaica had a reaction from the crowd at the second annual Jo Mersa Marley Birthday Celebration on March 9 at Reggaeland in Nine Mile, St Ann.
The 22-year-old has since followed up with the song Survival, which was released in May this year.