Sean Paul, Beyoncé’s ‘Baby Boy’ Now Certified Platinum In US

Baby Boy, a 2003 collab between Dancehall superstar Sean Paul and R&B diva Beyoncé, is now certified platinum in the United States, 19 years after its release.

The song was certified Platinum on Monday (August 8) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after it reached the sales and streaming equivalent of 1,000,000 units sold in the US.   This is not to be confused with RIAA Platinum “Mastertone” status, which the track earned in June 2006 in recognition of one million purchased ringtones.

Co-produced by Scott Storch, Baby Boy first appeared as the second single off Beyoncé’s Grammy Award-winning Dangerously in Love album on August 3, 2003.  It was later added to the 2003 re-release of Sean Paul’s Grammy Award-winning Dutty Rock album.

Dangerously in Love was also certified 6X Platinum today, while Paul’s Dutty Rock is currently 2X Platinum.

Baby Boy was an early hit for Beyoncé after she went solo following the breakup of Destiny’s Child.  The Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment release spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 29 weeks in total.

It was Beyoncé’s longest-running No. 1 single until 2007, when it was surpassed by Irreplaceable.  The song had also elevated Sean Paul’s global profile and remains his longest-running No. 1 record, ahead of Cheap Thrills (with Sia), which was No. 1 for four weeks.

In the UK, Baby Boy peaked at No. 2 on the Singles Chart before it was certified Gold in March 2020, for sales exceeding 400,000 units in the country.  It was also a top 10 hit in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The song’s official music video has almost 160 million views on YouTube.

Sean Paul has said that it “would be cool” to team up with Bey once again.   “The first time it was her asking me so maybe I should ask her now,” he told ET Canada last year.

However, the two have been dogged by reports that her husband Jay-Z, who co-wrote Baby Boy, had somehow felt threatened by their working relationship.  Earlier this year, when asked whether he did indeed “hook up with Beyoncé”, Sean laughed and told the Daily Beast, “Nah! I wish I did! She’s beautiful.”

Paul’s other Platinum-certified songs in the US are Shake Señora with Pitbull and T-Pain (Platinum), Cheap Thrills with Sia (8X Platinum), Rockabye with Clean Bandit and Anne-Marie (3X Platinum), Bailando with Enrique Iglesias (4X Platinum),  Do You Remember with Jay Sean and Lil John (2X Platinum), We Be Burnin’ (Platinum), Get Busy (Platinum), and Temperature (3X Platinum).

His latest album Scorcha was released earlier this year.

Beyoncé’s latest album Renaissance is currently No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart.