The digital streaming platform has revealed the most-streamed female artist of the Afrobeats genre over the past 12 months, according to Spotify.

Spotify has announced the most-streamed artist on their platform over the past 12 months in a move to highlight the growing popularity of Afrobeats and the platform’s shift towards the genre.

Spotify has recently announced Afrobeats: Culture in Motion, a worldwide initiative that showcases the evolution of the genre over the last five years and the individuals behind its rapidly growing popularity. The announcement disclosed that Ayra Starr was the most-streamed female Afrobeats artist on the digital streaming platform over the previous 12 months.

The project showcases the transformation of Afrobeats from a distinct regional sound into a global cultural phenomenon, which in the past 12 months, has led to over 240 million Spotify discoveries worldwide.

At the centre of the launch is a new Spotify documentary titled Culture in Motion, highlighting the next generation of Afrobeats stars that are pushing the boundaries. The microsite on Spotify’s news platform, For the Record, features an interactive format that explores the genre’s growth through five key factors, incorporating exclusive artist interviews, expert analysis, and new data on Spotify listeners globally.

Women are at the forefront of this global breakthrough. Tems has become the first African female artist to achieve a record of 1 billion Spotify streams on a single song. Afrobeats has developed a distinctive visual style that is now widely recognized, and its fans have become influential tastemakers who drive discovery, boost trends, and accelerate the genre’s growth in real time.

In Nigeria, the birthplace of Afrobeats according to the platform, the sound is more than just entertainment; it functions as a cultural heartbeat. In 2025 alone, listeners in the country have spent over 180 million hours streaming this genre, with Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt being the top streaming locations. For Gen Z Nigerians, the music resonates on a personal level, reflecting their favourite Afrobeats moods as “whiny,” “island vibes,” and “playful.”

A passion that has driven a community-led movement has spread globally from Nigeria. In the last ten years, Afrobeats playlists created by fans have increased by almost 3000%, showing how listeners have helped determine the global direction of the genre. The growth of new sub-genres such as Afro-Adura further underscores its expanding influence, with streaming numbers increasing by over 4000%.