Africa Day: Spotify shines spotlight on African artists

Burna Boy emerged as the most streamed African musician globally, followed by Aya Nakamura and Seether, respectively. The most listened to song around the world by an African artist is ‘Copines’ by Aya Nakamura. Collaborative hit ‘Loved By You’ by Justin Bieber featuring Burna Boy and ‘Jerusalema’ by Master KG featuring Nomcebo Zikode claimed the No 2 and 3 spots, respectively.

The most streamed musicians outside of South African were Seether, Master KG and Die Antwoord, in that order. The most listened to songs by local artists were ‘Jerusalema’ followed by Seether’s hits ‘Fake It’, ‘Broken’ and ‘Remedy’.

Additionally, Spotify will this week feature Africa’s biggest artists across the region on its Global X playlist. The playlist is a key part of Spotify's Global Cultures Initiative, which promotes culturally diverse music from around the world. Artists featured on the playlist are Davido (Nigeria), Sarkodie (Ghana), Lady Du (South Africa), Sauti Sol (Kenya), Mohamed Ramadan (Egypt) and Diamond Platinumz (Tanzania), among many others.

“Spotify has always celebrated Africa’s abundance of talent and diversity,” Spotify head of music for sub-Saharan Africa Phiona Okumu said. “Now with Spotify’s presence across Africa, we will continue to use the power of the platform to amplify African creators to a global audience.”

The top streamed African artists globally

• Burna Boy
• Aya Nakamura
• Seether
• Wizkid
• Master KG

The top streamed tracks by African artists globally

• ‘Copines’ – Aya Nakamura
• ‘Loved By You’ – Justin Bieber ft. Burna Boy
• ‘Jerusalema (feat. Nomcebo Zikode)’ – Master KG
• ‘Location’ –Dave ft. Burna Boy
• ‘Djadja Remix' – Aya Nakamura ft. Maluma

The top streamed South African artists outside of South Africa

• Seether
• Master KG
• Die Antwoord
• Lebo.M
• WizTheMc
• GoldFish
• Alice Phoebe Lou
• Jeremy Loops
• Saudi
• Matthew Mole

The top streamed tracks by South African artists outside of South Africa

• ‘Jerusalema’ – Master KG ft. Nomcebo Zikode
• ‘Fake It’ – Seether
• ‘Broken’ – Seether
• ‘Remedy’ – Seether
• ‘For A Minute’ – WizTheMc
• ‘Circle of Life’ from The Lion King Soundtrack – Lebo M.
• ‘Jerusalema’ (Edit) – Master KG ft. Nomcebo Zikode
• ‘Fine Again’ – Seether
• ‘Careless Whisper’ – Seether
• ‘Jerusalema’ (Remix) – Master KG ft. Burna Boy and Nomcebo Zikode