Ghana Ranks 5th Sub-Saharan African Country With A Thriving K-pop Fanbase

According to a tweet from Kimchi and Kenkey, a Korean cultural media portal, Ghana has made it to the top ten markets for Korean Pop in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Surprise!!

Check out the top streamed K-pop acts of 2022 in Africa according to @SpotifyAfrica!

👀 Do you see your fave?#KpopOnSpotifyAfrica pic.twitter.com/gLumKCEk1X

— Kimchi And Kenkey (@KimchiAndKenkey) December 12, 2022

Kimchi and Kenkey, shared a statement from Spotify indicating that Ghana had had a 236% rise in K-pop streams and was placed fifth, after South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Mauritius. 

Other nations that reached the top ten K-pop markets in Sub-Saharan Africa were Uganda, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Botswana,” according to a statement from Spotify’s head of music for Sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu.

The Rise of K-pop in Africa According To Spotify 

Research conducted by Spotify indicates that there has been a 93% year-on-year rise in K-pop streams in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, accounting for by over 3 billion hours of streaming. This shows that K-pop is not a transitory fad, but rather has a committed and expanding African audience.

“In an increasingly connected world, on-demand streaming services like Spotify have certainly made it easier than ever to tap into another country’s music. Streaming has become instrumental in not only enabling the discovery of African music abroad but also in exposing African listeners to new and unexpected sounds,” Okumu elaborates. 

What’s capturing the hearts of this new audience, however, is the diverse sounds that K-pop has to offer. Although called Korean pop music, K-pop actually ranges across a vast number of music genres such as Pop, Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Disco, and even traditional and folk Korean musical stylings. K-pop is essentially not really a music genre, but simply music from Korean artists.

Here are the top 10 streamed K-pop Artists in Sub-Saharan Africa 

1. BTS
2. Stray Kids 
3. BLACKPINK 
4. TOMORROW X TOGETHER 
5. TWICE
6. j-hope
7. ENHYPEN 
8. Jung Kook
9. ATEEZ 
10. SEVENTEEN 

Korean Songs on the Spotify Daily Viral Chart (Africa)

Kimchi And Kenkey also shared a list of the top K-pop songs of 2022 based on Spotify’s Daily Viral Chart in Africa.

From January 1 to November 30, the data, released by the Korean culture media platform, recorded the chart in nations such as South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Nigeria.

“BTBT” by B.I., featuring Soulja Boy and Devita, was the longest-charting K-pop single in Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. It stayed in the Moroccan charts for 68 days, the longest for any K-pop song in 2022.

BLACKPINK, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, and (G)I-DLE were constants in the charts. Similarly, BTS, TREASURE, TXT, ENHYPEN, and Stray Kids were the top boy groups on the charts. BTS’ impact was further shown when songs such as “SEXY NUKIM,” “Left and Right,” “Rush Hour,” and “That That,” featuring members RM, Jung Kook, j-hope, and SUGA, respectively occupied spots on the charts.

While NAYEON’s “POP!” charted in Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa for the longest time, Jessi was the only female soloist to have her single” ZOOM” chart in all four countries.

Although no SM Entertainment act made the top ten streamed acts of 2022,  “ZOO,” from its 2021 winter album, which featured its rappers TAEYONG, JENO, HENDERY, YANGYANG, and GISELLE, as well as Step Back by the project girl group, GOT the beat, were the only songs to spend more than 10 days on the chart.

Check the full report here.