Spotify Wrapped: 2022 – A Love Affair With Nigerian Sounds

Today, Spotify announced this year’s edition of  Spotify Wrapped – its hotly anticipated annual round up of the top artists and  music of the year as streamed by users around the world. And this year’s data paints a picture of how Nigerian music captured hearts, both at home and around the world.

In 2022, Nigerian music has continued to hoist its flag in different global territories claiming its space on the world stage. The year in Afrobeats was defined by the emergence of a hybrid Amapiano sound, an endless pipeline of hits, and new heights for a generation of pop royalty who are questioning our ideas of what’s popular in style and sound.

Spotify’s Artist & Label Partnerships Manager, West Africa , Victor Okpala says “2022 ushered us into an era of cultural overdrive and we’re excited for fans and artists alike to share these insights on the music they created and listened to this year.”

The way we listen to music says a lot about us. As part of Wrapped 2022, Spotify users get a detailed snapshot of their most loved artists, creators and songs. And as part of this year’s fun, Audio Day showshow Spotify users’ musical choices evolve throughout the day while the new Your Listening Personality feature tells users about the music they listen to and what that says about their music taste. One of 16 different Spotify-created Listening Personality types is assigned to each user based on their 2022 listening trends.

Wrapped 2022 will also feature messages from artists  to their listeners, and because sharing is caring, users will be able to share their Wrapped cards via WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also unlock a personalized Snapchat lens that reflects their listening personality and those active in the Roblox universe, can head to Spotify Island for even more fun and games with some cool merch from a number of artists including Ghana’s Black Sherif.

So who now sits atop the much vaunted throne of Naija pop?  In a year where our headphones and speakers suffered no shortage of banging beats and hit tunes, who usurped LADIPOE’s Feeling as the most streamed song in Nigeria? Are the Amapiano-inspired club jams sweeping the top songs this year, or will R&B and Afrobeats make a stand?

Here’s what the Spotify Wrapped data says about Nigeria’s listening habits in 2022:

• Nigerians listened to nearly three times as much local music in 2022, than they did in 2021 with a 291% YOY increase  in local music consumption.
• Nigerians bring the speakers out on Fridays, which is when they listen to the most music. Wondering what time of the day Nigerians listen the most? It’s at 11am, right after morning commutes and to-do lists are taken care of.
• 2022 is the year that Burna Boy set the world on fire- claiming the number one spot as the most streamed artist in Nigeria. The love affair wasn’t only local- he is also the most globally streamed artist from Sub-Saharan Africa. His track Last Last also takes the crown for the most streamed song and also the most hearted song in Nigeria.
• Spotify RADAR alumnus, Ayra Starr is the most streamed female artist in Nigeria while Tems has the leading vibe among Nigeria’s musical exports in 2022. Wait For You, the singer’s collaboration with Future & Drake, was the top Nigerian song export  of the year.

The full breakdown of the top lists is below.