Spotify Reveals Top Five Female Afrobeats Artistes of the Past Year

Spotify has unveiled its top five female Afrobeats artistes of the past twelve months as part of its inaugural Afrobeats: Culture in Motion—a global initiative tracking the genre’s rise over the past five years and spotlighting the artistes, producers, and industry players driving it forward. 

The initiative is supported by a new Spotify documentary, Culture in Motion, which explores Afrobeats’ explosive global growth.

In celebrating the Women of Afrobeats, Spotify crowned Ayra Starr as the top female Afrobeats artiste of the year. Dubbed the “Pop Star of Afrobeats,” Starr has amassed over 2.7 billion streams on the platform, with her acclaimed album The Year I Turned 21 surpassing one billion streams alone.

In second place is Tems who has crossed the 4-billion-stream mark across all credits, making her the first Nigerian woman and the fourth Nigerian artiste overall—joining Wizkid, Rema, and Burna Boy—to achieve this feat. Described by Spotify as “soulful, authentic, and introspective,” Tems has become one of the genre’s most distinct voices. Her impact extends beyond streaming, as she became the first Nigerian artiste in history to win two Grammy Awards in the same year.

Third place goes to Cameroonian-American singer Libianca, whose breakout single People has surpassed one billion streams and earned a platinum certification from the RIAA. The success of the hit single launched her onto the global stage, landing her an MTV VMA nomination. In total, she has accumulated over 1.6 billion streams across all credits.

French-Malian sensation Aya Nakamura takes the fourth spot. Known for blending R&B, pop, and zouk influences into her Afrobeats sound, Nakamura has gathered more than 3.8 billion cumulative streams on Spotify. She is currently the ninth most-streamed Francophone artiste in Spotify’s history and, in February 2025, became the first African artiste to earn over one billion YouTube views for a single video with her hit Djadja.

Closing out the list is British-Nigerian rapper and singer Darkoo, who has surpassed one billion Spotify streams cumulatively. With her infectious sound and unique tone, she has delivered several hits, including Favourite Girl, Focus on Me, and Right Now.