CKay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ continues to hold its position as the highest-selling Nigerian song in the United States.CKay leads RIAA list of top selling Nigerian artists
Nigerian mainstream pop music is enjoying global success, especially in the United States where Afrobeats stars have earned multiple platinum plaques.
The song is also the most certified Nigerian song in the United States with over 8 million units sold which puts it in a prime position to be Afrobeats’ first diamond record.
Grammy-winning Wizkid ranks second on the list, with his hit single “Essence” featuring Tems and Justin Bieber selling over 4 million units. He is also the most certified Nigerian artist in the United States, holding 8 certifications.
Rema is the third highest-selling Nigerian artist in the US with over 5 million units sold thanks to the success of his mega-hit single ‘Calm Down’ which has been declared 6 times RIAA platinum.
With ‘Calm Down’, Rema set multiple records including becoming an African artist to accumulate over 1 billion streams on a song in the United States.
Other records held by the song include being the highest charting Nigerian song on the Billboard Hot 100 with a NO. 3 peak. It’s the first African song to spend over 52 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the first to top Billboard’s radio chart.
Other Nigerian artists with multiple RIAA certifications include Tems, who made history as the first Nigerian artist to debut on the Hot 100, Burna Boy, who holds the record for the most Hot 100 entries by a Nigerian artist, and Davido, whose single “Fall” became the first Nigerian song to be certified RIAA Gold.
