Spotify Announces 2020 “Wrapped” Revealing Top Songs, Artists, Albums and More

2020 is almost over. It’s been a year to remember – being physically apart for so long, yet somehow finding ways to come together as a resilient community. Before we officially close the books, there’s still time to celebrate the creators behind the music of 2020 that kept us going all 700 months of the year! And Spotify’s 2020 Wrapped is here to do just that.

Today, Spotify is unveiling the top artists, albums, songs and playlists that defined how more than 320 million people around the world listened to and discovered audio. Whether it was to stay informed, sing along or simply tune it all out, people kept listening and creators never missed a beat.

So, what artists defined a year unlike any other? Below are the results of Spotify’s full 2020 Wrapped results globally and in South Africa. 

GLOBAL

• With more than 8.3 billion streams this year, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny is Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2020. Following Bad Bunny is Drake and the third most-streamed artist of the year is J Balvin,followed by the late rapper Juice WRLD and The Weeknd.
• Billie Eilish continues her reign as Spotify’s most-streamed female artist for the second year in a row, followed by Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande in the second and third spots. Coming in as the fourth and fifth most-streamed female artists are Dua Lipa and Halsey.
• The most-streamed song of 2020 is The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” with almost 1.6 billion streams this year. In the second and third spots respectively, are Tones And I’s “Dance Monkey” and Roddy Ricch’s “The Box.” The fourth most-streamed song of the year is  “Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN, followed by Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now.”
• The most-streamed album globally of 2020 is Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG over 3.3 billion streams, followed by The Weeknd’s After Hours and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding. Rounding out the list of top albums are Harry Styles’ Fine Line and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia.
• The year’s most popular Spotify editorial playlist is Today’s Top Hits, which has more than 27M followers.

SOUTH AFRICA

• International star Drake takes the top spot as Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2020 in South Africa. He is followed by Juice WRLD, with South African Amapiano King Kabza De Small in the third spot.  After a phenomenal year for Kabza De Small, the local artist has jumped 37 spots on the overall most-streamed artist list in South Africa since Wrapped 2019.
• Continuing his reign, Kabza De Small is once again the most-streamed local artist of 2020 in South Africa. This comes as no surprise given the continued success of AmaPiano throughout the year. Spotify’s AmaPiano Grooves is the most popular genre playlist in South Africa. DJ Maphorisa, Nasty C, Afrikaans Group Spoegwolf and Joyous Celebration follow as the most streamed local artists for 2020 in South Africa.
• Spotify’s first RADAR Africa artist for 2020, Elaine, is the most-streamed local female artist of 2020 in South Africa. Ami Faku follows in the second spot with Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore in the third spot.Sha Sha and Juanita Du Plessis complete the top five. 
• “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd is the most-streamed song in South Africa of 2020. This is followed byThe Box by Roddy Ricch and Roses – Imanbek Remix by Imanbek featuring SAINt JHN. The fourth and fifth most-streamed songs in South Africa are “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I and “ROCKSTAR (feat. Roddy Ricch)” by DaBaby and Roddy Ricch.
• Elaine’s “You’re the One” is the most-streamed local song of 2020 in South Africa. “eMcimbini (Live)” by(Aymos, DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, Mas Musiq, Myztro) and Samthing Soweto, “Tender Love” by (DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, Sha Sha), the global sensation “Jerusalema” (by Master KG featuring Nomcebo Zikode) and “Risky” by Elaine, complete the list of the top five local songs of 2020.
• I Am The King of AmaPiano: Sweet & Dust by Kabza De Small is the most streamed local album. Kabza De Small also claimed the second and third spots with Scorpion Kings Live and The Return Of The Scorpion Kings. Nasty C and Samthing Soweto followed with the fourth and fifth most streamed albums with Zulu Man With Some Power and Isphithiphithi, respectively.

For even more, check out Spotify’s blog For the Record.  A breakdown of top global and South African results are also included below.

Be on the lookout for additional details and exciting new features in the coming days around Spotify’s popular personalised Wrapped and Creator Wrapped experiences, which gives users a deep dive into the music that defined their year. 

Spotify 2020 Wrapped South Africa Top Lists 

Most Streamed Artists in South Africa

1. Drake
2. Juice WRLD
3. Kabza De Small
4. Khalid
5. The Weeknd
6. Travis Scott
7. Pop Smoke
8. Post Malone
9. Billie Eilish
10. Eminem

Most Streamed Female Artists in South Africa

1. Billie Eilish
2. Taylor Swift
3. Beyoncé
4. Ariana Grande
5. Halsey
6. Rihanna
7. Dua Lipa
8. Nicki Minaj
9. Jhené Aiko
10. Selena Gomez

Most Streamed Tracks in South Africa

1. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
2. “The Box” by Roddy Ricch
3. “Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek, SAINt JHN
4. “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I
5. “ROCKSTAR (feat. Roddy Ricch)” by DaBaby, Roddy Ricch
6. “Life Is Good (feat. Drake)” by Drake, Future
7. “Circles” by Post Malone
8. “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
9. “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi
10. “Toosie Slide” by Drake

Most Streamed Albums in South Africa

1. Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon, Pop Smoke
2. Legends Never Die, Juice WRLD
3. After Hours,The Weeknd
4. Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
5. Please Excuse Me For Being Anti Social, Roddy Ricch
6. Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Drake
7. Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, Lewis Capaldi
8. Fine Line, Harry Styles
9. WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO GO?, Billie Eilish
10. No. 6 Collaborations Project, Ed Sheeran

Most Streamed South African Artists in South Africa

1. Kabza De Small
2. DJ Maphorisa
3. Nasty C
4. Spoegwolf
5. Joyous Celebration
6. Elaine
7. Cassper Nyovest
8. Snotkop
9. Bok Van Blerk
10. Appel

Most Streamed South African Tracks in South Africa

1. “You’re the One” by Elaine
2. “eMcimbini (Live)” by Aymos, DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, Mas Musiq, Myztro, Samthing Soweto
3. “Tender Love (feat. DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small)” by Sha Sha, DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small
4. “Jerusalema (feat.Nomcebo Zikode)” by Master KG, Nomcebo Zikode
5. “Risky” by Elaine
6. “Xola Moya Wam’ (feat. Master KG)” by Master KG, Nomcebo Zikode
7. “Lorch” by DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, Kammu Dee, Miano, Semi Tee
8. “Into Ngawe” by Ami Faku, Sun-El Musician
9. “Love You Tonight (feat. DJ Maphorisa, Sha Sha & Kabza De Small)” by DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small, Mfr Souls, Sha Sha
10. “Sandton” by Bontle Smith, DJ Maphorisa, Focalistic, Kabza De Small, Kamo Mpela

Most Streamed South African Albums in South Africa

1. I Am The King Of AmaPiano: Sweet & Dust, Kabza De Small
2. Scorpion Kings Live,  Kabza De Small
3. The Return Of The Scorpion Kings, Kabza De Small
4. Zulu Man With Some Power, Nasty C
5. Isphithiphithi, Samthing Soweto
6. A.M.N (Any Minute Now), Cassper Nyovest
7. Umithi, Blaq Diamond
8. Xola Moya Wam’, Nomcebo Zikode
9. Scorpion Kings, DJ Maphorisa
10. Emakhaya, Mlindo The Vocalist

Most Streamed South African Female Artists in South Africa

1. Elaine
2. Ami Faku
3. Demi Lee Moore
4. Sha Sha
5. Juanita Du Plessis
6. Nomcebo Zikode
7. Karen Zoid
8. Zonke
9. Makhadzi
10. Lebo Sekgobela

Spotify 2020 Wrapped Global Top Lists: 

Most Streamed Artists 

1. Bad Bunny
2. Drake
3. J Balvin
4. Juice WRLD
5. The Weeknd

Most Streamed Albums 

1. YHLQMDLG, Bad Bunny
2. After Hours, The Weeknd
3. Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
4. Fine Line, Harry Styles
5. Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa

Most Streamed Tracks 

1. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
2. “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I 
3. “The Box” by Roddy Ricch
4. “Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN
5. “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

Download the Spotify app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com – to embed Spotify into a website – right click on any playlist, go to ‘share’ and copy embed code.

#SpotifySouthAfrica – Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA  | Instagram: @spotify