Logic is proof an album doesn't need to house a Billboard-charting radio record in order to rack up streams, sales and plaques.

Mike Holland

Late last week, Logic's sophomore album The Incredible True Story was certified Gold by the RIAA, marking the second album certification of the Def Jam signee's young career following last October's certification for his debut album Under Pressure.

Logic certainly isn't the first rapper to earn two Gold album certifications, but by picking up his second plaque in as many years, he has accomplished a feat that no other rapper can lay claim to over the past two years.

From January 2015 to February 2017, which we'll call the height of the current on-demand music streaming era, 27 rappers earned either a Gold or Platinum certification for an album. Out of this total, Logic is the only rap artist to notch two album certifications without the benefit of ever earning a single certification for a song off his own project.

"Sucker For Pain," a Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons single that features Logic and Ty Dolla $ign was certified 2x-Platinum last week, but the record only appears on the official Suicide Squad soundtrack.

Two additional rappers on that list of 27 have also earned RIAA album certifications without the benefit of a certified single—ScHoolboy Q's Oxymoron (certified Platinum on June 16, 2016) and Lecrae's Anomaly (certified Gold on August 26, 2016)—but neither has accomplished the feat twice.

While A$AP Rocky, Big Sean, B.o.B, Childish Gambino, DJ Khaled, Dr. Dre, Drake, Fetty Wap, Future, G-Eazy, Gucci Mane, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Gates, Kid Ink, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj, Plies, Post Malone, Rae Sremmurd, Snoop Dogg, Travis Scott, Wale and Wiz Khalifa all scored Gold or Platinum plaques for at least one album over the past 26 months, none of them did so without the benefit of at least one certified single.

Logic's achievement, which comes on the heels of him passing the one billion stream marker on Spotify, is further proof that in 2017, we must redefine the definition of artistic success.

While the easiest path to earning an album certification these days is the inclusion of a pre-release smash single—see Post Malone's "White Iverson" on Stoney or Drake's "Hotline Bling" on Views—Logic has now proven, for the second time, that an album doesn't need to house a Billboard-charting radio record in order to rack up streams, sales and plaques.