Spotify has unveiled the most-streamed female Afrobeats artist of the last 12 months on the digital streaming platform.
In a bid to celebrate the rapid rise of Afrobeats and the new direction one of the biggest digital streaming platforms, Spotify, is taking with the genre, the most-streamed artist on the platform over the last 12 months has been revealed.
Spotify, in its latest announcement, unveiled Afrobeats: Culture in Motion —a global initiative that captures the genre’s transformation over the past five years and the people driving its unstoppable momentum. The announcement revealed that Ayra Starr was the most-streamed female Afrobeats artist on the digital streaming platform for the past 12 months.
The project emphasises how Afrobeats has evolved from a distinctly regional sound into a worldwide cultural movement, one that, in the last 12 months alone, has sparked more than 240 million discoveries on Spotify across the globe.
At the heart of the launch is a new Spotify documentary titled Culture in Motion, spotlighting the next wave of Afrobeats stars pushing boundaries. This is paired with an interactive microsite on Spotify’s newsroom platform, For the Record, which unpacks the genre’s rise through five key pillars, combining exclusive artist interviews, expert insights, and fresh listening data from Spotify’s audience worldwide.
Women are also leading this global breakthrough. Tems recently made history as the first African female artist to surpass 1 billion Spotify streams on a single track. Beyond the music itself, Afrobeats has shaped a bold visual language that resonates globally, while fan communities have emerged as the new tastemakers, driving discovery, amplifying trends, and fueling the genre’s growth in real time.
In Nigeria, which the platform categorises as the birthplace of Afrobeats, the sound is more than entertainment; it serves as a cultural heartbeat. Listeners in the country have streamed the genre for over 180 million hours in 2025 alone, with Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt ranking as the top streaming hubs. For Gen Z Nigerians, the music resonates on a personal level, reflected in their favourite Afrobeats moods: “whiny,” “island vibes,” and “playful.”
This passion has powered a community-driven movement that originated in Nigeria and spread worldwide. Over the past decade, fan-created Afrobeats playlists have surged by nearly 3000%, demonstrating the role of listeners in shaping the genre’s global trajectory. Even more, the rise of new sub-genres like Afro-Adura highlights its ever-expanding reach, with streams for the sound climbing by over 4000%.
The most-streamed female Afrobeats artists on Spotify
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