AmaPiano leads SA’s most streamed local artists on Spotify

Today, Spotify is unveiling its annual 2021 Wrapped results and personalised user experience. At the same time, Spotify is revealing the top artists, albums, and songs from the creators that helped soundtrack the year for more than 381 million users worldwide. 

To access your personalised Spotify Wrapped 2021, open the Spotify app for iOS or Android and visit the home page. Users will be guided through their music trends, like most listened to songs, the general ‘aura’ or vibe of the music they listen to, and even a quiz on how well they know their music trends. This quiz can also be shared with other users to test how well they know you.

Spotify provided the following information on how South Africans listened to music in 2021:

• International rappers led the list of the most streamed artists in South Africa. Certified Lover Boy, Drake remained a firm favourite locally as he took the top spot on the list. Drake’s popularity extends further into Africa as he also claimed the top spot in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Juice WRLD followed in second place with Justin Bieber,  Kanye West and The Weeknd making up the top five. 
• A feat for the local music industry is the entry of DJ Maphorisa at number eight on the most streamed artists list for South Africa, the only local amongst the international acts.
• AmaPiano creators dominated as the most streamed local artists in South Africa, claiming the first five spots on the list. Unsurprisingly,  DJ Maphorisa led the pack followed by fellow Scorpion King Kabza De Small, with newcomers to the list Busta 929, De Mthuda and Mr JazziQ rounding off the top list.  
• Makhadzi has had a phenomenal year and it’s no wonder she is included in South Africa’s most streamed local artist list as well as being the most streamed female South African artist in 2021. Her star continues to rise as she received over 9 641 683 streams globally on Spotify in 2021.
• When it comes to the most streamed songs in South Africa over the past year – ‘’STAY (with Justin Bieber)’’ by The Kid LAROI is at number one, followed by Tiësto’s ‘’The Business’’ and ’’Bad Habits’’ by Ed Sheeran. Sicela nithi hooray for ‘’Umsebenzi Wethu’’ by Busta 929 as it claimed its spot on the top five list at number four followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘’drivers license’’.
• AmaPiano continues its domination of streaming lists – AmaPiano Grooves was the most streamed playlist in South Africa. The genre also owned the most streamed local songs list. The top five most streamed songs were ‘’Umsebenzi Wethu’’ by Busta 929 (#1), ‘’John Wick’’ by De Mthuda (#2), ‘’Izolo’’ by DJ Maphorisa (#3), ‘’Abalele’’ by Kabza De Small (#4) and ‘’Banyana’’ by DJ Maphorisa (#5). 
• Drake claimed another top spot with Certified Lover Boy as the most streamed album in South Africa in 2021. This comes as no surprise given the social media popularity and meme virality it garnered in the country since its September release. SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo followed in second, with Ed Sheeren’s ‘’=’’ , Justice by Justin Bieber and the late Pop Smoke’s Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon making up the top five.
• Afrikaans vocalist Riaan Benadé’s Spontaan led the most streamed South African albums list with Blxckie – the new kid on the hip hop block – in second place with his debut album B4Now. Blxckie has also garnered popularity outside of local borders amassing 6 980 769 streams globally on Spotify in 2021. Today’s Tragedy, Tomorrow’s Memory: the mixtape by A-Reece (#3), Undisputed Vol 2 by Busta 929 (#4) and Kokovha by Makhadzi (#5) completed the list. 

Top 10 Most Streamed Artists

1. Drake
2. Juice WRLD
3. Justin Bieber
4. Kanye West 
5. The Weeknd
6. J. Cole
7. Ed Sheeran
8. DJ Maphorisa
9. Taylor Swift
10. Doja Cat

Top 10 Most Streamed South African Artists

1. DJ Maphorisa
2. Kabza De Small
3. Busta 929
4. De Mthuda
5. Mr JazziQ
6. Joyous Celebration 
7. Nasty C
8. Makhadzi
9. Appel
10. A-Reece

Top 10 Most Streamed Tracks 

1. STAY (with Justin Bieber) – The Kid LAROI
2. The Business – Tiësto
3. Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran
4. Umsebenzi Wethu – Busta 929
5. drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
6. Heat Waves – Glass Animals 
7. Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
8. John Wick – De Mthuda
9. Peaches (feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon) – Justin Bieber
10. MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X

Top 10 Most Streamed South African Tracks 

1. Umsebenzi Wethu – Busta 929
2. John Wick – De Mthuda
3. Izolo – DJ Maphorisa
4. Abalele – Kabza De Small
5. Banyana – DJ Maphorisa
6. LiYoshona Main Mix – Kwiish SA
7. Vula Mlomo – Musa Keys
8. Woza – Mr JazziQ
9. Mmapula – Busta 929
10. Siyathandana – Cassper Nyovest 

Top 10 Most Streamed Albums 

1. Certified Lover Boy – Drake
2. SOUR – Olivia Rodrigo
3. “ = ” – Ed Sheeran 
4. Justice – Justin Bieber
5. Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon – Pop Smoke
6. Planet Her – Doja Cat
7. Donda – Kanye West
8. Legends Never Die – Juice WRLD
9. Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa
10. After Hours – The Weeknd

Top 10 Most Streamed South African Albums 

1. Spontaan – Riaan Benadé
2. B4Now – Blxckie
3. Today’s Tragedy, Tomorrow’s Memory: the mixtape – A-Reece
4. Undisputed Vol 2 – Busta 929
5. Kokovha – Makhadzi
6. African Queen – Makhadzi
7. Subconsciously – Black Coffee
8. Party With The English – Mr JazziQ
9. Hardwerkende Man – Appel
10. To the World & Beyond – Sun-El Musician 

Top 10 Most Streamed Playlists 

1. AmaPiano Grooves
2. Today’s Top Hits
3. Soft Pop Hits
4. Mood Booster
5. Deep Sleep
6. Songs to Sing in the Shower
7. Sleep
8. Made in South Africa
9. All Out 80’s
10. Slow Jamz

For more information on how the world listened in 2021, check out Spotify’s For the Record blog