By Wycliff G; Ugandan singer Eddy Kenzo has hit another jack-pot after being unveiled as one of the most-streamed artists in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to Billboard.
On the list titled “Billboard’s Top 15 Sub-Saharan African Artists” which is based on global views, Eddy Kenzo has gathered over 109.73M streams after Nigeria’s Sinach (120.73M) and more than Yemi Alade (109.55M).
The same list is topped by Nigerian Burnaboy with 435.57 million streams, followed by Tanzanian Diamond Platnumz with 291.98 million streams and Davido who had 285.76 million in the third place.
See below for the full list:
- Burna Boy – 435.57M
- Diamond Platnumz – 291.98M
- Davido – 285.76M
- Fally Ipupa – 186.5M
- Wizkid – 176.23M
- Innoss’B – 155.67M
- TeknoMiles – 153.07M
- Mr Eazi – 139.68M
- Harmonize – 138.98M
- Rayvanny – 133.69M
- Flavour – 130.15M
- Sinach – 120.73M
- Eddy Kenzo – 109.73M
- Yemi Alade – 109.55M
- Joeboy – 106.08M
According to the findings of Billboard, The “vast majority” of YouTube views for African artists who have crossed the 1 million subscriber mark — among them Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Davido, Burna Boy and Naira Marley — “come from outside of the country that they’re from,” says Meenan, citing Burna Boy and Davido as examples.
“Ninety-five percent of their views are coming from outside of Nigeria.” In both cases, the United States drove the most views.
For Burna Boy, France and the United Kingdom placed second and third, while that order was reversed for Davido.
With few exceptions, local music rules. “I was surprised at first, but less so when I started unpacking it,” says Meenan.
“Local music cuts through because it is reflective of the culture.” Bongo flava artists dominate YouTube’s Tanzania chart; mahraganat artists in Egypt; and Afrobeats stars in Nigeria and Ghana.
Meenan says he compared the top 100 songs in Nigeria and Tanzania for the same week and they shared nine tracks.
The United States and Tanzania shared four songs in their respective top 100. “It really speaks to how these countries are their own musical ecosystems,” says Meenan.
Congratulations Eddy Kenzo!
