By Charles Mgbolu
Eagle-eyed music fans are seeing an interesting plot twist develop between Nigerian singing sensation Ayra Starr and South African Grammy winning singer and songwriter Tyla as both music stars continue to grow in music dominance on the continent and beyond.
Ayra Starr is now the second African artist with the most Spotify listeners, with over 31 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Ayra has 31,056,219 monthly listeners as of May 29, behind Tyla, who has so far remained at the top with the highest monthly listens at 31,931,535 (also as of May 29).
Earlier this month, Ayra overtook ‘Calm Down’ crooner Rema (Nigeria), whose record is at 24,551,231 (May 29).
High streaming figures
So far, Tyla and Ayra are the two African acts presenting a strong showing in streaming figures, leaving their pairs far behind as far as the numbers can tell.
Burna Boy (Nigeria), who is one of Africa’s best-selling musicians, is at half of the top queen's charts with 15,583,238 monthly listens.
Tiwa Savage (Nigeria), who is currently among the most notable music artists ever to emerge from the continent as far as Afobeats is concerned, has 2,770,411 monthly listens.
Fans are now egging Ayra Starr on as her number continues to climb with astonishing speed, especially as her new album ‘’The Year I Turned 21’’ set to be released on May 31 has increased her popularity across platforms.
Rise of Ayra
Since her entry into the mainstream music business in 2021, Ayra Starr has undoubtedly become one of Nigeria's and Africa's biggest musicians.
Ayra has won at least two awards, including The Headies Award for Best Female Artiste of 2023, beating compatriots Tiwa Savage and Simi to the title.
Dominant Tyla
But despite the leaps and bounds in streaming figures, is she really capable of catching up with Tyla?
This is where pundits are scratching their chins, as nothing is certain at the moment.
Tyla, the youngest African artist to have ever won a Grammy Award, is still growing strong.
Her album, Tyla, released in March 2024, has been a smashing success and has been the key driver of her latest streaming numbers, which have kept her at the very top of the charts.
Her Grammy-winning hit song "Water" is included in this album and has more than 600 million streams on Spotify alone and over 170 million views on YouTube.
It's a wait-and-see situation, and music fans are not going anywhere.
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