Over the past decade, Nigerian music, especially the vibrant genre of Afrobeats, has transformed from a regional sound into a global cultural force.
PwC recently estimated that Afrobeats contributes roughly $2 billion annually to the wider global music economy, underlining the genre’s rising influence.
At the same time, streaming platforms like Spotify have reported that Nigerian artists earned over N58 billion in royalties in 2024 alone, more than doubling what they made the previous year.
One of the main platforms fueling this expansion is YouTube, where creators who qualify for the YouTube Partner Program benefit from revenue sharing via ads, subscriptions, and, more recently, Shorts. As these channels grow, so does their access to monetization tools that reward viewership, global reach, and engagement.
This article spotlights some of Nigeria’s musicians with the largest YouTube channels by subscriber count, based on data at the time of publishing, offering a snapshot of who is leading the stream in turning global visibility into creative and financial impact.
- No of subscribers: 3.47 million
Since launching his YouTube channel in 2014, Wizkid has built a quiet yet commanding digital presence, drawing 3.47 million subscribers, 88 videos, and more than 2.39 billion views. His visual catalogue traces the arc of his evolution from a Lagos prodigy into one of the most recognizable figures in global pop.
- Wizkid signed his first major deal in 2009 with Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E) and rose to prominence with Holla at Your Boy, the breakout single from his 2011 debut album, Superstar. His sophomore effort, Ayo (2014), produced enduring hits such as Jaiye Jaiye.
- International recognition followed in 2016, when his collaboration with Drake on One Dance topped the Billboard Hot 100 and made Wizkid the first Afrobeats artist to enter the Guinness World Records. A year later, he signed with RCA Records and released Sounds From the Other Side, expanding his reach across the Americas and Europe.
Wizkid’s 2020 release, Made in Lagos, became a defining moment for Afrobeats, propelled by the global success of Essence featuring Tems, the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow-up albums, More Love, Less Ego (2022) and Morayo (2024), deepened his artistic introspection, with Morayo setting a new Spotify record for the biggest streaming debut by an African artist.
