It’s that time of the year when we do a retrospect and spotlight the achievements of our Afrobeat superstars, who have consistently entertained us and broken the barriers throughout the year. We saw many of our favorite artists bring home ground-breaking accomplishments, giving hope to up-and-coming artists.
In a slightly different turn of events, this week’s piece focuses on those unexpected but exciting developments that occurred on the charts for our highly revered Afrobeats this year. We know you’d love to find out if your beloved made the list, so we urge you to keep reading.
1. Seyi Vibez’s “Vibe Till Thy Kingdom Come” peaking at #6 on USA Apple Music
Fans of Seyi Vibez were blessed by their Huncho on the 8th of June 2023, when he released a 10-track body of work, “Vibe Till Thy Kingdom Come” featuring guest artists such as Russ, Young Jonn, South Africa’s Focalistic, and Jibrille. With a total playtime of 25 minutes, the street-pop act held the charts down.
Following the release of “Chance na Ham” in 2022, he was constantly trolled on Twitter for trying so badly to be Asake. Many failed to see the uniqueness of his craft. His album, “Vibe Till Thy Kingdom Come” peaked at no.6 on USA Apple Music days after its release. With this feat, he silenced naysayers, as they began to see him for who he truly is.
2. Davido’s “Timeless” album reaching #1 on USA iTunes & #2 on USA Apple Music (highest peaking African album on the chart)
Davido is arguably one of the most victimized Afrobeat artists, if not the most. Thanks to his privileged life. Many believe that the father-of-4 lacked the substance to produce good music. They called him ‘frog voice’ and mocked him for incoherence for the longest until “Timeless” hit the airwaves and narratives began to change.
The 4th album of the Afrobeat megastar made history by becoming the first African album in history to reach no.1 on US iTunes in the world’s largest music market and no.2 on Apple Music US. This unusual occurrence sent a shock wave down the spine of detractors while earning him a spot on the list today.
3. Seyi Vibez’s “Memory Card” EP peaking at #10 on USA Apple Music
It’s undeniable that street pop act, Balogun Afolabi Oluwaloseyi, widely known as Seyi Vibez had a ball this year. Seyi kicked off this year with an extended play, EP, dubbed, “Memory Card”. A 5-track project that served as a follow-up to his sophomore album, “Billion Dollar Baby 2.0”. It holds tracks like “Para Boi”, “Goat”, “IG Story, Alaska, and Love is War.
Being one of the youngest leading new-generation artists, Vibez is determined to make a mark on the music scene which is already achieving. The EP peaked at #10 on USA Apple Music, announcing him as the first Nigerian artist to debut 2 projects on Apple Music US top 15 in less than 3 months at the time.
4. Seyi Vibez becoming the 1st African artist to chart 3 projects on USA Apple Music in under a year
Following the success of his EP “Memory Card” and third studio album, “Vibe Till Thy Kingdom Come”, Vibez boy made history by becoming the 1st African artist to chart 3 projects on USA Apple Music in less than a year.
Seyi Vibez is certainly one of the Nigerian acts that dominated the charts in 2023, making him one of the most sought-after. His constant collaborations with A-list acts put him on the radar for eminence. We certainly cannot wait for what 2024 holds for him.
5. The most streamed song released by a Nigerian artist, combined streams across all versions on Spotify is a gospel song – This Year (Blessings)
Who would have thought that the most streamed song released by a Nigerian artist would be a gospel song? With the numerous jams released this year, it is almost unbelievable to see how much Nigerians would enjoy consuming a gospel song still.
Well in January 2023, talented Nigerian gospel musician, Victor Thompson released an emotive track with an assist from Ehis the Greatest and Vacra. The song’s lyrics are well-laced with prayers and words of manifestation and soon exploded into a massive hit, so much so that ace American rapper, Gunna jumped on its remix.
This, perhaps, owes to the ‘renewed shege’ and economic downturn that pushed many past their breaking points.
6. Rema’s “Calm Down” being among the Top 5 most streamed songs globally in the 1st quarter of 2023 (Luminate)
“Calm Down” is a vibey and feel-good kind of song, with catchy lyrics, taken from his sophomore album, “Rave and Roses”, the song has garnered multiple certifications in several regions.
According to Luminate, “Calm Down” is among the top 5 most-streamed songs globally in the 1st quarter of 2023 while Rema is on his journey to setting iconic musical records and is now being considered one of the big 4 in Afrobeats.
What’s shocking about this is that “Calm Down” was released in February 2022, but it continues to achieve ground-breaking feats even in 2023. In September 2023, it was reported that Calm Down had hit 1 billion streams on Spotify, while the remix with Selena Gomez has amassed a whopping 733 Million YouTube views in one year.
7. Davido earning his biggest streaming year in 2023
Davido has been around for over 11 years, however, he was only able to record his biggest streaming in the year 2023. This is hugely attributed to the success of his 4th studio album, “Timeless”, released on the 31st of March, 2023.
“Timeless” is a 17-track, album with guest features from Skepta, Angelique Kidjo, Asake, Focalistic, The Cavemen, Fave, Musa Keys, Dexta Daps, Morravey, and Logos Olori. Its production credit goes to Magicsticks, Rage, Darmie, Blaisebeatz, 1da Banton, Caltonic SA, and Young Alpha.
The body of work has one of the most-streamed songs in 2023. A song that earned the global hit-marker his first Grammy nomination.
Fans and critics alike are fascinated by the star’s growth this year and wonder what he did differently to earn him such a record-breaking feat!
8. Spyro having the most viewed music video released by any Afrobeats artist in 2023
Till date, Spyro himself is still in awe of the success of his song, “Who’s Your Guy”. Born Oludipe Oluwasanmi David, Spyro broke out with his 2020 hit song called, ‘For You’, an Afro-pop sound, which gained massive airplay and reception.
He released, “Who’s Your Guy” in 2022 and scored a remix with the queen of Afrobeats, Tiwa Savage. A move that has now made him the artiste with the most-viewed Afrobeats music video released in 2023. This feat leaves behind other Afrobeats A-list artists including the top 3; Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Davdio.
“Who’s Your Guy” has amassed 109 Million views in 9 months. Tariebi Joel takes directorial credit for the music video.
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