5 Nigerian artists that broke records in 2021 (WN Picks)

It is no more news that the digital age has a lot of impact on the music business. We can boldly say this because of the number of musicians that have been able to go global, simply by harnessing the power of digital media.

Over the years, we see musicians who are able to build a large fanbase online, unlike anything we witnessed back in the days when we didn’t have social media and digital platforms to promote music and artists alike.

Today, we can proudly boast of two Nigerians who are Grammy-winning musicians, several others who are brand ambassadors for global brands, and more.

WN Picks talks about the impact of digitalization on the music business in Africa but let’s talk about Nigerians who broke records this year and how going digital helped them achieve their goals.

First Nigerian to headline Madison Square Garden

Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy has had a good run over the last couple of years, but unlike many others, he does not seem to be stopping anytime soon.

After his fifth album, Twice as Tall debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s World Album chart, the Nigerian superstar went ahead to win a Grammy award for Best Global Music Album. That, however, does not seem to be a record to break anymore for Burna Boy as he has two nominations for 2022 (for Best Global Music Performance alongside Angélique Kidjo for their “Do Yourself” collaboration, as well as Album of the Year for his contribution to Justin Bieber’s album Justice.

The record broken this time around is being the first Nigerian to headline Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Afro-fusion giant revealed this through an Instagram story he made, hinting that he would be headlining the Madison Square Garden, then went ahead to confirm it with a post the same day.

Burna Boy will have a one-night-only concert, billed as “Burna Boy Presents One Night in Space,” on April 28, 2022. Registration for early pre-sale access to tickets kicked off on the 15th of December, 2021.

Sells out 02 Arena 3 days back-to-back

There is no way WN Picks will mention the big names in the Nigerian music scene and Wizkid won’t be mentioned. It’s no mistake his fans nicknamed him Big Wiz or Wiz Lion.

Talking about breaking records, Wizkid did one like any other this year when he did his 02 Arena Made in Lagos Tour.

It is true that he is not the first Nigerian to have a concert at the 02 Arena or the first to sell out the 20,000 capacity event space, but no other Nigerian artist has done it the way he did.

The Nigerian superstar held a 3-days concert in the 20k capacity 02 Arena and kept it on lockdown for those three days, all sold out with his fans roaring to the excitement of seeing him alongside the many other artists that were on the stage with him.

While others were getting a plaque for selling out the 02 Arena, Wizkid got three plaques at once for selling the 02 Arena for 3 days back-to-back.

200 million views on Youtube

Coming from his days of ‘Dami Duro’ to where he is today, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido has cast his name in stone in the Nigerian music industry, Africa, and globally.

He was able to prove this beyond a doubt on the 5th of April, 2021 when the video to one of his hit songs ‘Fall’ hits 200 million views on popular video streaming platform Youtube.

It is important to note that the video of ‘Fall’ is the first afrobeat clip to hit 200 million views on the video streaming platform. Also, the video was the first afrobeat visual to cross the 100 and 150 million mark on the video streaming platform.

A couple of days ago, Davido became a global brand ambassador for one of the world’s foremost sports company, PUMA.

Number one song in the world on Shazzam’s global charts in September

Although it is no surprise that Love Nwantiti by fast-rising act Ckay became a global hit, it is a surprise how it did and the traction it got.

Ckay was intentional about gaining mileage for the song as he went on to do a couple of remixes of the song with different artists, but he got the desired result on it when a version he featured Joeboy and Kuami Eugene blew up.

The record-breaking for this song was when it was revealed on September 11, 2021, that Love Nwantiti by Ckay was the No.1 song on Shazzam’s global charts, topping other super hits like ‘Stay’ by Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, global anthems from Lil Nas X, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Dua Lipa, J Balvin, The Weeknd and more.

It is important to note that the song has now gained more than 5 billion views on Tik Tok which is another reason it made it to WN Picks.

Afrobeats UK chart for 4 straight weeks in a row

Nigerian Afrobeat singer, Fireboy DML has enjoyed a reward for his hard work this year. His songs are played across all radio stations and TVs, danced to in parties across the country and beyond.

Recently, it was also revealed that the Nigerian star was welcomed to Boomplay’s Golden Club as he surpasses the 100 million streams mark on the platform, welcoming him to the league of other prominent artists like Olamide and Burna Boy.

On breaking records this year, Fireboy DML was able to do it with his smash hit, Peru. In October, the song was announced as the top song on the Afrobeats UK chart, by extension breaking the record for Nigerian solo songs atop the chart.`

Peru topped the chart for four straight weeks breaking a Nigerian record in the process. This gained it a spot on the WN Picks.

Other notable mentions

It is worthy of note that other artists like TEMS have also had a great year.

For TEMS, she earned her first career entry on the Billboards chart for her feature on Wizkid’s popping track Essence. The song went from top 100 on the Billboard chart all the way to the top 10.

Also, she’s breaking the records as a newcomer who has already gotten a Grammy nomination for the same song.

This coupled with the opportunity to perform at the 02 Arena before a 20k audience is enough to get her a notable mention on this list.