YouTube is considered as one of the world’s leading video platforms and for all its worth, it provides a platform for music stars to reach a wide range of audiences.
YouTube is also a massive force when it comes to influencing popular culture as well as wealth creation.
Over time, Nigerian musicians have gradually began staking a claim in this digital streaming industry with artistes like Davido, Burna Boy, Tekno among others setting the pace on YouTube. Here’s a list of the top 5 most viewed music video by a Nigerian artiste on YouTube.
1. Davido – Fall (205,510,727 views)
Davido is not only one of the leading music stars to come out of Nigeria, he’s also one of the biggest acts to come out of the continent as well.
With well over a decade in the music industry, he’s enormously accomplished and has touched different lives with his music across the globe.
Read more: A decade worth of excellence: Davido’s top 10 biggest songs
He was born David Adedeji Adeleke and his journey into music started far back in 2011 but his fame spread like wildfire when he released ‘Dami Duro’ in 2012.
He’s since excelled on all fronts and has set the precedence for other musicians across Africa.
Davido is also the very first Nigerian to reach 100 million views on YouTube with the video of his song ‘Fall’.
“Fall” was recorded in 2017 and was produced by Nigerian record producer Kiddominant who now goes by KDDO.
The song has also reached unprecedented heights, peaking at the No. 13 spot on Billboard charts as well as reaching over 57 million streams on Spotify.
It’s also been certified GOLD by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
As of the time of this publication, “Fall” has reached over 205.5 million views on YouTube.
2. Burna Boy – On The Low (204,958,622 views)
Grammy award-winning superstar Burna Boy rose past every other person to reach the second spot only behind Davido’s ‘Fall’ with his song ‘On The Low.
The song also peaked at the No. 20 spot on Billboard’s chart and has been certified GOLD in Canada and France.
“On The Low” is off Burna Boy’s 2019 album, African Giant, nominated for the 62nd Grammy award in the Best World Music Album category.
Read more: Burna Boy reintroduces one of the metrics of distance ‘KILOMETRE’ in new single [MP3 + Video]
The song is also a top choice on music streaming platforms and has since reached 107 million listens on Spotify.
Burna Boy is second on the list of top five most-watched Nigerian music videos on YouTube with 204.9 million views to date.
3. Sinach – Way Maker (175,594,920)
Sinach’s “Way Maker” was published on YouTube five years ago on 31 December 2015 and is third on our list of most-watched Nigerian music videos on the world’s leading video platform.
Sinach is a gospel singer and her song “Way Maker” made transformative strides.
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“Way Maker” has since been translated to over 50 languages and has also been covered by several artists all around the world. It also topped the Billboard’s Christian Song Writers chart for 10 weeks running and is also the theme song sung in many languages to bring hope and faith to many in distress.
Aside from being the third most-watched video by a Nigerian musician on YouTube with over 175 million views to date, it’s also been streamed over 10 million times on Spotify.
“Way Maker” bagged three nominations and went on to win the Song of the Year at the 51st GMA Dove Awards, making Sinach the first Nigerian to win the Award.
The song is also the third Nigerian music video ever to reach 100 million views on YouTube behind Davido’s “Fall” and Yemi Alade’s Johnny in March 2019.
4. Tekno – Pana (155,766,196 views)
In 2016, Tekno’s “Pana”, broke into the mainstream and made rounds in the United States. The artist revealed how the song made him fall in love with his own music like it wasn’t his own and it is safe to say the majority followed suit with “Pana” going on to become an Afrobeats classic.
It’s the fourth song on the list of most-watched Nigerian music videos on YouTube with over 155 Million views.
“Pana” also caught the attention of music veterans like Trey Songz and Ludacris who posted clips of themselves listening to the song on Instagram as well as the senior vice president of A&R at Columbia, Imran Majid, who signed the track and re-released it in December 2016.
5. Burna Boy – Ye (141,016,078 views)
If you refer to Burna Boy as “African Giant” just like he named his album, you won’t be mistaken as he is currently the only Nigerian music star to have two of his videos in the top five most-watched on YouTube.
Aside from accruing several numbers on YouTube, “Ye” by Burna Boy also has over 96 million streams on Spotify.
It’s also been certified GOLD in the United States by the RIAA, SILVER in the United Kingdom, GOLD in Canada and also in France.
Burna Boy’s “Ye” peaked at number 26 and 31 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts, respectively and went on to win Song of the Year and Listener’s Choice at the 2019 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival among other awards.
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