By Charles Mgbolu
Music genres from West and southern Africa made remarkable progress in 2023 on the global stage, but Afrobeats stood out with multiple successful African and international collaborations recorded.
Nigerian acts in particular showed their musical dominance by topping charts in both African and international music spaces throughout the year.
‘’Nigeria is a hotbed of musical talent, and we're incredibly proud to showcase the diversity and passion of Nigerian music lovers through Wrapped," said Phiona Okumu, Spotify's head of music, Sub-Saharan Africa.
"This year's Wrapped is a testament to the power of music to connect people and bring them closer to the culture and traditions of Nigeria."
The demand for local music in Nigeria continued to skyrocket in 2023, with consumption growing by an impressive 284%. The average stream of female artists in Nigeria also had a remarkable 150% surge.
Rema
Twenty three-year-old Divine Ikubor, known to fans as Rema, single Calm down worked like magic.
It was in the top 10 in at least 25 international and African countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, UAE, Switzerland, South Africa, Kenya, and Portugal
The song is from his debut studio album Rave & Roses (2022). It charted across Europe, reaching number one on the Belgian Ultratop 50, Dutch Top 40, and Dutch Single Top 100.
In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number three and spent 25 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart.
It went on to become the most-streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify in 2023 and the first African artist-led track to amass one billion streams on the platform. The song also became the first to spend a year on the Billboard Afrobeats chart.
Asake
Ahmed Ololade, popularly known as Asake, set his own record with his hit single Lonely at the top off his sophomore album Work of Art that was released in June.
It became the first song in the history of Audiomack to cross 100 million streams.
He recorded a landmark feat when he sold out the 20,000 O2 Arena in London in August 2023. In November 2023, Asake received his first nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Award for Amapiano featuring Olamide.
According to Spotify Wrapped 2023, Asake is captivating audiences across Nigeria, Ghana, and Togo, earning him the coveted title of most streamed artist in each pf the country.
Ayra Starr
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, known to fans as Ayra Starr, is the most streamed female artiste in 2023, according to data from Spotify, with over 12 million listeners.
Her success ride in 2023 actually began in 2022 with the release of her song Rush. It went on to top charts in several countries, including Switzerland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 24.
The song also earned Starr her first nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best African Music Performance.
The song also made Starr the youngest African female artist to surpass 100 million views on a single video on YouTube and the first to do so within five months.
Burna Boy
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, is another music force coming out of Africa with over 16 million listeners, according to 2023 data from Spotify.
In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him number 197 on its list of the 200 greatest singers of all time. Burna Boy also won Bet International Act at the 2023 BET Awards, making it his fourth win in the category.
Burna Boy also had the last laugh in 2023 by finishing the No. 1 rank on Billboard’s 2023 year-end US Afrobeats Artists chart as Rema’s single fell off the category in October after staying at the top for nearly 52 weeks.
He ended No. 2 in this ranking in 2022 and so he must be smirking with relief at finally ending the year on the summit.
Davido
Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido’s has been consistent every year with chart-topping materials, and this year was not different.
His album Timeless made it to Billboard’s Top 50 Best Albums of 2023.
Timeless is Davido’s comeback album after a spell away and featured international artists such as Drake (For All the Dogs), Metro Boomin (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Doja Cat’s Scarlet.
