Music / News

CKay becomes second most streamed Afrobeats artist after surpassing 1.2 billion streams

The phenomenal star took the world by storm when his single ‘Love Nwantiti’ achieved global fame and became the most popular song in the world in 2021. This brought CKay global attention making him the Afrobeats artist with most monthly Spotify listeners.

Since ascending to a new height, CKay hasn’t looked back and his career has been on the rise. His latest single ‘Watawi’ featuring Davido, Focalistic, and Abidoza has been received with open arms.

CKay has promised to take Afrobeats to a new height with his next album and everyday keeps bringing up new reasons why fans should believe in CKay’s daring declaration.

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Music / News

Chocolate City CEO, Abuchi Peter Ugwu, discusses one year of music business leadership

It may be difficult to lead a team of over 250 people. It is reasonable to anticipate both successes and failures when leading a well-known music company such as Chocolate City.

Summarizing his journey so far Ugwu says, “It has been a wild ride with its successes, failures, learning experiences and exciting challenges. COVID, lockdowns, EndSARS and other upheavals disrupted the music business income streams across the entertainment industry. The battle to position our music and talents became a lot tougher, as we found ourselves competing not just with other talents and labels within Nigeria- but across the world. Thankfully, one thing has remained steadfast through all this- the commitment of our team to deliver excellent results and create positive impact.”

Chocolate City has added two new artists, Noon Dave and Young Jonn, under his leadership as the company continues to grow. One can imagine the pressure on Ugwu to produce another worldstar as the CEO of Chocolate City, the record label that discovered and produced one of Nigeria’s biggest music exports, CKay. Discussing some of his major highlights after 365 days in office, Ugwu said,

“Blaqbonez, an energetic and versatile artist who dropped his debut album “Sex Over Love” under the label. This album gained the #1 position on Nigerian album charts, 70 million plus streams, and Rolling Stone feature naming it one of the best albums of 2021. He commenced 2022 by selling out his first show in Lagos with over 4000 people in attendance.

“CandyBleakz, another prolific artist under our roster is a female rapper and singer-songwriter who strives to inspire young people with her story. Her recent single “Tikuku” is currently the number 5 most shazamed song globally with over 2 million streams on all platforms in less than a week”, he added.

“We also signed and unveiled Noon Dave, an Afro R&B artist with the voice of an angel. He released his breathtaking single “Brunch” and this song has captured hearts and has become a fan favorite.

“We unveiled popular producer Young Jonn as an

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Entertainment / Foreign / Music / News

CKay’s ‘ Love Nwantiti ‘ receives gold certification in France

CKay, who has already achieved 2x platinum in France with his global smash hit ‘Love Nwantiti,’ is on his way to achieving double platinum. After spending nearly thirty weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Love Nwantiti,‘ CKay has now received a gold certification in France for his lovely song ‘Emiliana.’ Announcing this on his Twitter page, CKay wrote, “gold! merci 🇫🇷💙✨

In October 2021, barely six months ago, CKay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ received a gold certification in France. Now his new song has just amassed over 100,000 unit sales in the European country.…

Awards / Music / News

Kizz Daniel, Ayra Starr, CKay, Mark Angel and more top TikTok’s round-up of 2021 for music, creators celebrities and more

On December 7, 2021, TikTok unveiled #YearOnTikTok 2021 in celebration of 2021-of-a-kind, which has been made possible by entertainment driven by its community. This year-end celebration recognizes talent and looks back on creativity, trends, creators, movements, and moments that made 2021 one to remember in Nigeria.

Placed under different categories, #YearOnTikTok 2021 ranges from popular videos and songs that kept Nigerians on their feet dancing to creators who became voices of change and celeb/creator breakthrough stars of 2021 – and everyone has played a part in bringing creativity and joy to a platform and a world that needed it.

As seen this year alone, there is no doubt that TikTok is a unique place where culture starts and where creativity knows no bounds – where anyone can discover, create, and share content they love. In 2021, over 1 billion people turned to TikTok to be entertained, find and share their joy with others, and learn new things.

“It’s been incredible to see how Nigerians have continued to grow and support one another this year on the platform. We’ve seen trends such as the recent Love Nwantiti start and spread across For You feeds, globally. We’re humbled to see how much joy our community has brought us this year, and we’re excited to experience more incredible moments as we continue this journey together,” added Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok Content Operations Manager, Africa.

“There’s something really special about TikTok’s diverse global community that people just can’t find anywhere else. For us, 2021 was a year for connection and we’ve seen people on TikTok laughing together, entertaining us, starting cultural phenomenons, and teaching us new things. It’s been incredible to see the depths of entertainment and creativity from this community, and we’re delighted to celebrate all the ways we’ve come together this year on TikTok,” said Vanessa Pappas, Chief Operating Officer, TikTok.

Without further ado, help us unveil the Year on TikTok 2021 report

#MusicOnTikTok : Most popular music on TikTok in Nigeria

From homemade beats to classics making a comeback, the songs

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Entertainment / Music / News

CKay, Omah Lay, P.Priime and Telz to represent Nigeria in #YouTubeBlack Voices Music Class of 2022

YouTube today announced a roster of 54 artists, songwriters and producers selected to join the #YouTubeBlack Voices Music Class of 2022. Among the acts from Australia, Brazil, Canada, USA and the UK are eight African artists based in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

Supported by the #YouTube Black Voices Fund, the #YouTubeBlack Voices Music Class of 2022 is a development program designed to directly support and mentor Black artists, songwriters & producers worldwide. The addition of songwriters and producers to the 2022 class demonstrates the continuation and expansion of Youtube’s efforts to support Black artists on the platform.

With the aim of equipping up-and-coming Black artists, songwriters & producers with the resources to succeed on YouTube, the class will be grouped into two program streams: one for artists and one for songwriters and producers.

Class participants will each receive dedicated partner support, seed funding to invest in the development of their channels, and opportunities to participate in training and networking programs focused on production, fan engagement and wellbeing.

Over the next 6 months, they will also get opportunities to develop their catalogues and collaborate with other global artists, songwriters, and producers who have also been selected to take part in the program.

Commenting on the significance of the program, YouTube’s Head of Music, Sub-Saharan, Addy Awofisayo says “African music is taking the entire world by storm and the #YouTubeBlackVoices Fund is an opportunity to both celebrate and nurture African artistry and help songwriters, producers and artists share their craft with global audiences.”

“Black culture is expansive and ever-changing and YouTube Music is committed to celebrating that experience through music,” she adds.

Nigeria’s Omah Lay whose music is heavily influenced by his background, strong culture and environment, has an undeniable connection to his audience and high hopes for his journey with YouTube Black Voices: “My music speaks to the people that love me, the people I love and the people that have been through what I have been through. I see the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund having an impact on my

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Entertainment / Music / News

Ckay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ moves 15 places into No. 35 on Billboard Hot 100

On October 10, 2021, Nigerian singer, Ckay’s global smash hit, ‘Love Nwantiti’ moved up 15 places to No. 35 on the Billboard 200. One week earlier, it sat at No. 50.

On September 27, 2021, the Warner South Africa act, recorded his first Billboard Hot 100 record.

On September 21, 2021, the record charted at No. 23 on the Official UK Top 40 and peaked at No. 4 just a week later.

On September 11, 2021, Nigerian singer-songwriter and music producer, Ckay‘s ‘Love Nwantiti’ became the No. 1 song on Shazam’s global charts. The chart tracks the most-searched songs in the world and ranks them on a chart.

The song sat above global smash hits from major superstars like ‘Stay‘ by Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, which is currently the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100.

The version of ‘Love Nwantiti’ which sat atop the charts features Axel and DJ Yo.

Initially released on Ckay’s sophomore EP, Ckay The First in 2019, the song blew up when its video version featured Joeboy and Kuami Eugene. Ckay has since created several remixes of the record for mileage. Since then, Winnie Harlow has danced to the song on her Instagram stories.

The singer has since released another EP, left Chocolate City and signed to Warner Music Group, South Africa.

This comes after Wizkid’s ‘Essence‘ became the most-shazamed song in the US, and after Master KG‘s ‘Jerusalema’ also became the most-shazamed song in the world in Q4 2020.

It becomes the second Nigerian record to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021 after Wizkid’s ‘Essence.’

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Entertainment / Music / News

Ckay’s ‘Ckay The First’ debuts at No. 158 on the Billboard 200, ‘Love Nwantiti’ rises to No. 50 on Billboard Hot 100

On Monday, October 4, 2021, the Billboard Charts report for the week revealed that the rave-of-the-moment in African music, Ckay has seen his 2019 EP, Ckay The First debut at No. 158 on the Billboard 200.

This comes after an eventful month, which has seen Ckay become the most streamed African artist for September 2021.

Initially released 2019, Ckay The First produced ‘Love Nwantiti,’ which currently sits at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song blew up when its video version featured Joeboy and Kuami Eugene. Ckay has since created several remixes of the record for mileage. Since then, Winnie Harlow has danced to the song on her Instagram stories.

You might remember that…

On September 27, 2021, Nigerian singer and Warner South Africa act, Ckay recorded his first Billboard Hot 100 record. His viral smash hit, ‘Love Nwantiti’ hit No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100.

This came barely one week the record charted at No. 23 on the Official UK Top 40. Currently, Ckay also sits in the top 10 of Billboard’s Global 200 while he tops Shazam’s US list.

On September 11, 2021, Nigerian singer-songwriter and music producer, Ckay‘s ‘Love Nwantiti‘ became the No. 1 song on Shazam’s global charts. The chart tracks the most-searched songs in the world and ranks them on a chart.

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Entertainment / Music / News

Ckay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ becomes the No. 1 song in the world

On September 11, 2021, Nigerian singer-songwriter and music producer, Ckay‘s ‘Love Nwantiti’ became the No. 1 song on Shazam’s global charts. The chart tracks the most-searched songs in the world and ranks them on a chart. The song sits above global smash hits from major superstars like ‘Stay‘ by Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, which is currently the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. It also sits above global anthems from Lil Nas X, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Dua Lipa, J Balvin, The Weeknd and more.

The version of ‘Love Nwantiti’ which sits atop the charts features Axel and DJ Yo.

Initially released on Ckay’s sophomore EP, Ckay The First in 2019, the song blew up when its video version featured Joeboy and Kuami Eugene. Ckay has since created several remixes of the record for mileage. Since then, Winnie Harlow has danced to the song on her Instagram stories.

This is good news for the industry.

The singer has since released another EP, left Chocolate City and signed to Warner Music Group, South Africa.

This comes after Wizkid’s ‘Essence‘ became the most-shazamed song in the US, and after Master KG‘s ‘Jerusalema’ also became the most-shazamed song in the world in Q4 2020.

What is Shazam?

According to Wikipedia, Shazam is an application that can identify music, movies, advertising, and television shows, based on a short sample played and using the microphone on the device.

The company is now owned by Apple.

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