Wizkid Becomes First African Artiste To Reach 11 Billion Spotify Streams

Wizkid Becomes First African Artiste To Reach 11 Billion Spotify Streams

Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Wizkid has become the first African artiste to surpass 11 billion streams on Spotify, extending his dominance as one of Africa’s most streamed and commercially successful music exports.

The milestone was announced on Tuesday by music statistics platform ChartsAfrica via X, formerly Twitter, which confirmed that the Grammy-winning singer is the first African artiste to hit every major Spotify streaming milestone from one billion to 11 billion streams.

The post read: “First African artists to reach major Spotify milestones: 1 billion — Wizkid, 2 billion — Wizkid, 3 billion — Wizkid … 11 billion — Wizkid.”

The achievement comes just days after Wizkid’s latest collaboration with DJ Tunez, titled State of Mind, recorded more than 685,000 streams on Spotify within its first 24 hours of release, further boosting his global streaming numbers.

Earlier in January, the singer, popularly known as “Big Wiz,” became the first African artiste to cross the 10-billion-stream mark on Spotify, a feat widely celebrated across the entertainment industry and among Afrobeats fans worldwide.

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A significant portion of Wizkid’s total streams comes from his international collaborations, especially One Dance by Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla. The 2016 global smash remains one of Spotify’s most-streamed songs ever, with over three billion plays on the platform.

His hit single Essence featuring Tems also played a major role in his streaming success. The song became the first Nigerian track to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination, helping accelerate Afrobeats’ mainstream acceptance globally.

Beyond Spotify, Wizkid has continued to break international records throughout his career. In 2021, he became the first African artiste to receive a Brit Billion Award for surpassing one billion audio-on-demand streams in the United Kingdom. He has also headlined major venues including London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and sold out the O2 Arena multiple times.

Entertainment executives and music analysts described the latest Spotify milestone as another defining moment for African music globally, noting that Afrobeats has evolved from a regional genre into a dominant force in global pop culture.

Fans and celebrities also flooded social media with congratulatory messages, praising Wizkid for consistently pushing African music to international audiences and inspiring a new generation of artistes across the continent.

Wizkid Becomes First African Artiste To Reach 11 Billion Spotify Streams