Spotify partnered with Giants of Africa for the inaugural Giants of Africa Festival, in celebration of the non-profit’s 20-year anniversary.
The week-long festival held in Kigali, Rwanda, brought together youth from 16 countries and used basketball as a tool to educate and empower African youths to dream big.
Fans thronged the BK Arena on Saturday 19 August, for the closing concert, presented by Spotify. The full house was expectant and Davido, Tiwa Savage, Tyla and Bruce Melodie thrilled the Pan African audience with unforgettable performances. The four artists were the right fit to close off a week of inspiring youths through sports, music and dance, as their primary listeners on Spotify are 18-24 years old.
Tyla, a Spotify Africa RADAR artist was first on stage as she showcased her Amapiano infused with Afrobeats, pop, and R&B style music. She kicked off her performance with her collaboration with Kooldrink, Getting Late, which is also her most streamed track, according to Spotify data. Interestingly, the market streaming the South African artist the most is Nigeria, followed by her home country. This is likely due to her collaboration with Nigeria’s Ayra Starr on Girl Next Door, which is her second most streamed track and was also included in her Giants of Africa performance. The other countries vibing with Tyla’s music include Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.
The audience also got a chance to experience her other hits Been Thinking, To Last and her most recent release, Water. An Amapiano performance would not be complete without choreographed dance moves, which Tyla and her dancers delivered elegantly, leaving the auditorium in awe.
Rwanda’s Bruce Melodie took the stage next, starting off with his collaboration with Khaligraph Jones, Sawa Sawa, which is his second most streamed track on Spotify. Over the twenty-minute performance, Bruce transported the fans through his musical catalogue, from Ikinyafu, Saa Moya 7:00 and Funga Macho. The crowd went wild when ELEMENT EleéeH, Rwandan producer, singer and songwriter joined Bruce on stage for a performance of their song FOU DE TOi.
Bruce then took the audience to church with his gospel song, Urabinyegeza, another of his top streamed tracks on Spotify, before closing off with Katerina, his most streamed song on Spotify. Bruce’s Spotify audience is majorly in East Africa, with Kenya streaming his music the most, followed by Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and finally Burundi.
Probably one of the most anticipated performances of the afternoon, Davido took to the stage next. The artist, whose audience is spread out all across the continent, from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia gave an electrifying performance that left the audience wanting more. He opened with Over Dem, from his Timeless album and one of his most streamed songs on Spotify.
Davido then transported the audience back in time with hit after hit, including Dami Duro, FIA, Jowo, If, Fall and Risky among others. The showmanship continued, performing High, Ke Star and Champion Sound. Finally, the moment for his most viral song arrived; Unavailable, is Davido’s most streamed song on Timeless, and the most exported track among 18 -24-year-olds, soundtracking many dance videos. The song, the dance moves, Davido’s close out performance was everything and more.
The queen of Afrobeats, Tiwa Savage was the final act on the Giants of Africa stage. Also with a pan-African audience, Tiwa’s Spotify listeners are from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda. 49-99, one of her most playlisted songs on Spotify, opened her performance. Ma Lo, her second most streamed song was next, followed by a string of other hits including KEYS TO THE KINGDOM, Like, Pick Up, and an acapella version of Somebody’s Son. Who Is Your Guy was a crowd favorite, as was her most streamed song on Spotify, Koroba. Closing off with Stamina, her top exported track among 18-35-year-olds, Tiwa’s performance showed why she is still the undisputed queen of Afrobeats.
“It was a pleasure to partner with Giants of Africa, particularly for the closing concert where the audience got to experience some of Africa’s top-tier talent. Africa’s youth are the future, and we are excited to continue to support them, through partnerships such as this one,” said Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, after the concert.
