The highest paid African artists on YouTube live by the words of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche once said that without music, life would be a mistake. I couldn’t agree more. Legendary Jamaican reggae artist Bob Marley described music as the only great thing that doesn’t hurt despite walloping you. You never feel the pain when it hits you.
Back home, Africa is now a hotbed of musical talent with fine artists spreading their charm far and beyond Africa. These artists have made a name for themselves on the international music scene. The results are massive earnings from YouTube. See Africa looks at the artists flying the continent’s musical flag high.
Who are the Highest Paid African Artists on YouTube?
Below are the 22 of highest paid African artists on YouTube according to Social Blade.
- Tyla – $3.1 million (South Africa)
- Mohamed Ramadan – $2.8 million (Egypt)
- Diamond Platnumz – $2.7M (Tanzania)
- Tamer Hosny – $1.9M (Egypt)
- Soolking – $1.7M (Algeria)
- Burna Boy – $1.5M (Nigeria)
- Ahmed Saad – $1.2M (Egypt)
- Kizz Daniel – $1.2M (Nigeria)
- Zuchu – $1.2M (Tanzania)
- Balti – $1.1M (Tunisia)
- Fally Ipupa – $1M (Congo)
- Sherine – $1M (Egypt)
- Wizkid – $1M (Nigeria)
- Rema – $924,700 (Nigeria)
- Davido – $902,100 (Nigeria)
- Saad Lamjarred – $850,000 (Morocco)
- Zouhair Bahaoui – $832,000 (Morocco)
- CKay – $756,200 (Nigeria)
- Flavour – $670,400 (Nigeria)
- P-Square – $642,100 (Nigeria)
- Rayvanny – $580,400 (Tanzania)
- Harmonize – $565,900 (Tanzania)
Each of the artists above commands a clear-cut musical charisma in and out of Africa. In addition, collaborations also play a role in the drive for the highest paid African artists on YouTube. For example, Diamond Platnumz is a highly sought-after artist in East, Southern and Western Africa for musical collabos.
Tyla, South African artist. Photo/People
Tyla who takes the lead as Africa’s highest paid artist on YouTube earns most of her income from music views streamed outside South Africa. Her breakout hit Water earned her international recognition. American TV host and comedian Jimmy Fallon hosted the 22-year-old South African artist on the famous The Tonight Show. Her sassy water dance drew more American subscribers to her YouTube channel prompting a remix of the song with American rapper Travis Scott. It’s not by mistake that Tyla takes the top seat in the list of the highest paid African artists on YouTube despite being in the industry for only five years.
The likes of Nigerian artists; Burna Boy, Wizkid, Kizz Daniel, Flavour, Davido and Rema rule Naija’s music industry. They keep their followers asking for more of their music laced with amapiano, afrobeats, afropop and afrorave influences.
Who is the Most Streamed Artist on YouTube in Africa?
Tanzanian Bongo Flava artist Diamond Platnumz is the most streamed artist on YouTube in Africa. He has raked in 2.14 billion YouTube streams. Diamond’s musical success goes back to very humble beginnings with the release of songs such as Mbagala where he appears meek and broken. He is not anything close to the flamboyant Diamond Platnumz Africa knows today.
Diamond Platnumz. Photo/ The Guardian Nigeria.
His collabos with American artists Omarion, Ne-Yo and Rick Ross earned him a seat on the table of the highest paid African artists on YouTube. Further, Diamond has an unreleased track featuring US pop star Alicia Keys. Bongo Flava is Tanzania’s unique musical genre which combines traditional Tanzanian sounds with hip hop and R&B influences. Most Bongo songs are in Swahili which is Tanzania’s national language.
Beyond music, Diamond’s lifestyle, businesses and personal life are intriguing. He has done little to shed ‘African Casanova’ title due to his romantically outgoing nature. Born Naseeb Abdul Juma, he is a father of four kids with three different women. However, it’s his marriage and subsequent break up with Ugandan-born socialite Zari Hassan that added to his basket of musical fans.
Zari, based in South Africa birthed two children for the East superstar, a boy and a girl. She was older the Diamond but loved him unconditionally but he still chose to cheat on her. The 44-year-old features in Diamond’s Iyena hit just as his last baby mama Tanasha Donna features in their joint hit ‘Gere’.
Who is the Best Selling Artist in Africa?
Nigerian Afrobeats star Wizkid. Photo/ Leadership News.
Nigerian afrobeats artist Wizkid is Africa’s best-selling artist with a record sale of over 55 million records so far. His 2020 album Made in Lagos brought immense commercial success. The 14-track album churned out popular hits such as Essence featuring Tems, Piece of Me featuring Ella Mai and Ginger featuring Burna Boy among other hits. Made in Lagos premiered on the Billboard 200 and the Billboard World Album chart spending a record-breaking 100 weeks. Its success musically, commercially and otherwise makes it the most impactful Naija album released in the last decade.
Nigeria has the highest number of the highest paid African artists on YouTube proving that afrobeats is a continental favourite. North Africa and East Africa follow closely while South Africa’s young entrant Tyla holds the top steadily.
