By Brian Okoth
A contest that has Davido, Wizkid, and Burna Boy would not only break the internet, but also bring the house down in many parts of Africa, if not the world.
The musicians — arguably the best three of all time in Nigeria — have smashed records, filled concert halls, and lifted every available trophy in music. But, who among them is the best?
That's a question that has never had, and probably will not have a conclusive answer anytime soon.
That is because Davido, Wizkid and Burna Boy have the numbers, the presence, and talent to individually claim the top spot.
Music awards
Wizkid — who has at least 88 career awards — is the most crowned of the three musicians.
In 2021, the 34-year-old added a Grammy award to his already full cabinet. He won the Grammy alongside American singer Beyonce in the Best Music Video category for their song titled "Brown Skin Girl."
At 61 awards, Burna Boy comes second. The 33-year-old's highly coveted award is the Grammy, which he won in 2021 for his album titled "Twice as Tall". The album scooped the Best Global Music Album award.
31-year-old Davido comes third with at least 32 career awards, including BET Awards, MTV Africa Music Awards, and Channel O Music Video Awards.
Music streams.
In the four major audio-or-video streaming platforms — YouTube, Spotify, Audiomack and Boomplay — Burna Boy has the most streams, at 11.9 billion.
Most of his streams come from Spotify at 6.6 billion, followed by YouTube at 2.5 billion.
Of all his songs, "Location" — which he was featured by British rapper Santan Dave — has the most streams, at nearly 572 million on Spotify.
Wizkid comes second with a total of 9.5 billion streams on the four platforms. On Spotify he has 7 billion streams, followed by YouTube at 1.4 billion.
The song "One Dance", in which American rapper Drake featured Wizkid, brought in Wizkid's highest streams at nearly 3.4 billion on Spotify.
Davido comes third with a total of 5.5 billion streams across the four major streaming platforms.
On Spotify, Davido has 2.1 billion streams, and on YouTube, he has 1.9 billion video streams.
Of all his songs, "Fall" has the most streams, at nearly 293 million on YouTube.
Social media
On social media, Davido is king. He has a combined following of nearly 57 million on Facebook, X network, Instagram and TikTok.
Instagram accounts for nearly 30 million of his followers, followed by X at nearly 16 million.
Davido is followed by Burna Boy, who has nearly 43 million followers on all the four major social media platforms.
Instagram accounts for almost 18 million of Burna Boy's followers, followed by X at nearly 10 million.
Wizkid has a combined social media following of almost 41 million. Instagram brings him the most followers at over 18 million, followed by X at nearly 14 million.
So, who among the three is the ultimate Afrobeats king?
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