Unarguably, Spotify has maintained its position as the most prominent music streaming platform worldwide.
Their accountability and credibility with numbers are glaring and visible to all.
Spotify’s Billions Club carries an exclusive list of artistes whose songs have hit the one billion stream mark. What’s exciting about this crop is that there is an elite crop of Nigerian artistes in this cadar.
Here, PREMIUM TIMES spotlights the Nigerian artistes with one billion streams on Spotify.
Wizkid
Wizkid is not just the first African artistle to have his song hit the one billion streams mark. He is the first artist to earn Spotify’s Billion club membership.
This was made possible as Drake’s “One Dance”, featuring the hit maker, became the first song to hit one billion streams in 2016. “One Dance” spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, 18 weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, six weeks at No. 1 on Rhythmic Airplay and one week at No. 1 on Pop Airplay. It was featured on Drake’s 2016 Grammy-nominated album Views.
In December 2024, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Guinness Worlds Records declared “One Dance” by Drake, featuring WizKid and Kyla, released on 5 April 2016, as the first song to surpass one billion streams on Spotify.
Rema
Rema’s “Calm Down” featuring Selena Gomez became the first African artiste song to hit one billion streams in 2023.
The original version was featured on Rema’s 2022 debut album Rave & Roses, while the Selena Gomez remix was later included in the 2023 deluxe edition titled Rave & Roses Ultra.
For a record time of 59 weeks, Calm Down peaked at no three on the Hot 100 and US AfroBeat songs. On World Digital Song Sales, it stayed on for 32 weeks.
The remix also won the inaugural Best Afrobeats award at the 2024 MTV VMAs, the top Afrobeats song at the Billboard Music Awards, and the best collaboration at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
Tems
Breaking the jinx and setting the pace, Tems is the first female African artiste to hit the one billion streams mark on Spotify in February with her song Future’s “Wait For U’ featuring Drake.
Her 2020 EP, Broken Ears, samples ‘Higher’ and was featured on Futures’ 2022 Billboard 200-topping album, ‘I Never Liked You’.
‘Wait For U’ reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, Which Includes Hot R&B/Hip-hop songs and Rhythmic airplay.
‘Wait For U’ was also nominated for best melodic rap performance and best rap song at the 2023 Grammy Awards. It earned the award for the former.
Nigerian music and musicians have continually set the pace for other African artists. It is pertinent to note that more are expected throughout the year as other prominent Nigerian artists have earned more recognition globally and their songs rank with US and UK sounds.
AfroBeat isn’t just an African sound. It’s a reflection of who we are, what we represent. It’s our culture interpreted through sounds, rhythm, melody, and words.
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