A global project tracing five years of the genre’s evolution and the people propelling it forward. In the last 12 months, Afrobeats has generated over 240 million discoveries on Spotify globally. The launch includes:
- Culture in Motion, a new Spotify documentary that follows the next wave of artists and captures the creative energy on the ground.
- An immersive microsite hosted on Spotify’s newsroom, For the Record, that breaks down the movement across five pillars with exclusive interviews, expert context, and fresh Spotify listening data.
What the microsite reveals:
- Sound evolution: Introspective, emotionally charged vocals now account for 38% of global Afrobeats streams.
- Latin expansion: Afrobeats listenership in Latin America grew more than 180% year over year, with Brazil up 500% since 2020.
- Women of Afrobeats: Tems is the first African female artist to surpass 1 billion Spotify streams for a single track. Ayra Starr’s streams in Nigeria are up more than 3,000% since 2020.
- Visual language: From Rema’s Benin history homage at London’s O2 Arena to Tems lighting up the Oscars and the Met Gala, the look is shaping culture as much as the sound.
- Culture and community: Fan communities are the new tastemakers, reshaping discovery in real time.
The South African Story
In South Africa, Afrobeats is having a powerful impact. The data shows that the genre is not just a global phenomenon but a local favourite:
- South African Gen Zs aged 18-24 are a key driver of the genre’s growth, spending nearly 7 million hours listening to Afrobeats in the last year.
- Afrobeats has seen growth in the country, with songs from the genre being discovered over 7 million times in the past 12 months.
- The overall Afrobeats audience in South Africa has grown by over 1000% year-on-year since 2020.
- The genre’s listenership in South Africa increased by 136% in 2020 versus 2019, kicking off a period of sustained growth.
You can check out the microsite on For the Record, the trailer, our animated Nigeria focused Afrobeats timeline and the press kit. You can also check out our Afrobeats Destination on Spotify for all things Afrobeats.