Tag: Spotify

South African pop queen Tyla is at it, but this time it’s a top record: only one person has broken it—the first African solo artist with a song to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify.

As of February 2025, Tyla became the first solo artist with a song (“Water”) to surpass one billion streams on Spotify. The song, which was released on July 28, 2023, took the entire world to the borders of South Africa.

The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot R&B Songs charts. It also spent 15 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at #24.

‘Water’ won many international awards, including MTV VMAs, MTV EMA, BET, and Grammys.

Another Billion club member achieved this but with the help of Selena Gomez on “Calm Down Remix.”

Streamdorm has compiled the list of first day streams on Spotify as of May, 2024. Davido ‘Timeless’ released March 31st, 2023 currently holds the number one spot with 4.91 million streams.

This year alone Shallipopi holds the highest first day streams with “Shakespopi” having 1.59 million (11 April, 2024). Ayra Starr “The Year I Turned 21” (30th May, 2024) holds the biggest first day for a female artist with 1.27 million streams.

Here’s the top 10 list of biggest album first day stream on Spotify:

1. Davido – “Timeless” (4.91M)
2. Burna Boy – “I Told Them” (2.93M)
3. Asake – “Work Of Art” (2.27M)
4. Wizkid – “S2” EP (2.08M)
5. Olamide – “Unruly” (1.81M)
6. Shallipopi – “Shakespopi” (1.59M)
7. Burna Boy – “Love, Damini” (1.36M)
8. Ayra Starr – “The Year I Turned 21” (1.27M)
9. Wizkid – “More Love, Less Ego” (1.21M)
10. BNXN – “Sincerely, Benson” (1.17M)

Being referred to as an African artist has come a long way. Once upon a time, we were considered underlings on the global stage, but in the past decade, we’ve broken that barrier. Artists like D’Banj, PSquare, Wizkid, and Davido fought for global dominance.

On streaming, Wizkid’s ‘More Love, Less Ego’ proved to Nigerians that our music can break the language barrier with 1.21 million streams on the first day. This year, Shalipoppi’s ‘Shakespopi’ earned over 1.5 million streams on Spotify, making it the biggest first-day stream of the year, followed by Mavin’s queen, Ayra Starr (1.27 million).

Here’s a full list of the biggest first-day stream on Spotify:

1. Davido – “Timeless” (4.91M)

2. Burna Boy – “I Told Them” (2.93M)

3. Asake – “Work Of Art” (2.27M)

4. Wizkid – “S2” EP (2.08M)

5. Olamide – “Unruly” (1.81M)

6. Shallipopi – “Shakespopi” (1.59M)

7. Burna Boy – “Love, Damini” (1.36M)

8. Ayra Starr – “The Year I Turned 21” (1.27M)

9. Wizkid – “More Love, Less Ego” (1.21M)

10. BNXN – “Sincerely, Benson” (1.17M)