Nigerian singer Tems has officially become the African artist with the highest monthly listeners on Spotify, surpassing South African superstar Tyla in a historic shift atop the continent’s streaming rankings.
According to current Spotify data, Tems now commands 38,343,329 monthly listeners, narrowly edging out Tyla’s 38,259,813.
The achievement follows a massive surge for the Grammy-winning artist, who recently broke the record for the biggest streaming day for a female African artist with 10.6 million streams.
Tems’ rise has been fueled by her critically acclaimed debut album Born in the Wild and high-profile international collaborations.
Her growing presence on the Billboard Hot 100 has further solidified her global reach, as she recently tied for the most entries by an African artist on the prestigious chart.
Tyla, who previously held the top spot and peaked at over 40 million listeners in late 2025, remains a dominant force with her hit “Water”, surpassing 1 billion streams.
The current top five African artists on Spotify are:
Tems (Nigeria) – 38.34 million
Tyla (South Africa) – 38.26 million
Ayra Starr (Nigeria) – ~31.4 million
Burna Boy (Nigeria) – ~24.9 million
Rema (Nigeria) – ~24.3 million
Nigerian artists continue to dominate the rankings, occupying four of the top five spots. Wizkid also maintains a strong presence with approximately 15 million monthly listeners, while holding the title of the most-streamed African artist overall with over 10 billion career streams.
This milestone underscores Nigeria’s continued dominance in the global Afrobeats movement while highlighting the fierce competition among Africa’s brightest musical talents.
