Description
Presented to DJ Yella, this official RIAA Gold award commemorates the sale of more than 500,000 units of Supersonic, the debut album by J.J. Fad—and one of the first commercially successful releases on Ruthless Records. Issued in 1988 and produced by DJ Yella and Dr. Dre, Supersonic helped introduce West Coast production to a broader national audience at a time when Ruthless was still building its reputation beyond underground rap.
J.J. Fad, an all-female trio consisting of MC JB, Baby D, and Sassy C, broke through with the title track “Supersonic”—a single that combined electro-hop energy with rapid-fire rhymes and minimalist Roland 808 programming. Its success was significant: it became the first Ruthless Records release to earn a Grammy nomination and one of the earliest female rap tracks to go Gold. DJ Yella’s co-production work on the record placed him behind the board on what was, in many ways, the label’s commercial breakthrough—paving the way for later Ruthless releases like Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-Duz-It.
The award includes gold-colored vinyl and cassette representations, a promotional image of J.J. Fad, and an RIAA certification plate personalized to DJ Yella. His signature appears on the outer glass of the frame.
There is visible water damage in the area surrounding the RIAA emblem, which shows fading. Additional frame damage is present in the bottom right corner. Please refer to the listing images for full condition details.
Note: This is one of two identical RIAA Gold awards for “Supersonic” presented to DJ Yella and included in this auction. Both plaques come directly from Yella’s personal archive and feature his signature. While the design is the same, you may notice subtle differences in condition and in the autograph.
Dimensions: 17" x 21"
All dimensions are approximate.
Disclaimer:
This item features a Silver OVD, verifying its authenticity through the DJ Yella Estate. A TRuEST™ authenticator was not on-site to witness its awarding or it being signed, which is why this item does not carry our gold-level witness-based authentication OVD.
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