Nigerian music star Burna Boy has made history as Spotify’s most-streamed African artist ever, a milestone driven largely by his World Cup hit with Shakira, “Dai Dai.”
The self-styled “African Giant” is currently commanding 47.3 million monthly listeners on the platform, eclipsing the previous continental benchmark of 46.58 million set by South African breakout star Tyla, whose global smash “Water” had, until now, defined the ceiling for African streaming dominance.
With momentum still building, industry watchers say Burna Boy is on a clear trajectory to become the first African artist in history to cross the symbolic 50-million-listener threshold.
At the heart of this surge is “Dai Dai,” Burna Boy’s genre-blending duet with Shakira, released as part of the official soundtrack for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The track has enjoyed a steady, almost relentless climb since its debut.
The song first made its mark by cracking the Spotify Global Daily Top Songs chart at position 94, a modest entry point that belied the momentum to come.
From there, the record’s ascent accelerated week by week. It later notched a new peak at number 11 on the Global Spotify chart, jumping nine places in a single ranking cycle while pulling in roughly 4.12 million streams in one day.
Days later, “Dai Dai” pushed further into rarefied air, breaking into the Global Top 5 with more than 4.3 million daily streams. The song has continued to post fresh daily highs since, at one point registering approximately 4.35 million streams in a single day.
That sustained climb culminated in the track reaching the summit of Spotify’s Global Top Songs chart, a landmark achievement that, according to the original report, makes Burna Boy the first African artist to top that chart outright since Wizkid’s era-defining feature on Drake’s “One Dance” in 2016.
Beyond streaming platforms, the song’s crossover appeal has extended into traditional chart territory as well. “Dai Dai” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 75, following its strong run on Spotify’s global rankings.
Industry observers point to the pairing itself as central to the song’s runaway success. The track fuses Shakira’s signature pop sensibilities with Burna Boy’s distinctive Afrobeats influence, producing what has been described as a cross-cultural anthem resonating across multiple markets.
For Shakira, a veteran of World Cup soundtracks stretching back to “Waka Waka” in 2010, the collaboration extends a long-running association with the tournament’s global stage.
For Burna Boy, it cements a reputation already built on Grammy recognition and stadium tours as one of the most commercially formidable exports African music has produced.
With the 2026 World Cup still generating cultural momentum worldwide, analysts expect “Dai Dai” to keep climbing and Burna Boy’s listener numbers along with it.
Should he cross 50 million monthly listeners, it would mark not just a personal milestone but a symbolic one for African music’s continued penetration into the global mainstream, following a decade in which Afrobeats has moved from niche diaspora playlists to the center of pop’s global conversation.
For now, the numbers speak plainly: an Afrobeats star and a Latin pop legend have combined to produce one of 2026’s defining global hits and rewritten the record books for African music on the world’s largest streaming platform in the process.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Burna Boy’s chart-topping duet with Shakira, “Dai Dai,” has driven him past Tyla to become Spotify’s most-streamed African artist ever, with 47.3 million monthly listeners and a real shot at hitting 50 million, proof that Afrobeats has firmly cemented itself in global pop’s mainstream.
