THE TOP 5 MOST STREAMED ZAMBIAN ALBUMS ON SPOTIFY RELEASED IN 2024

With over 46 albums and extended plays released in 2024 on the Zambian music scene, many may wonder, what were the top most streamed albums – in this focus, we look at Spotify as most artists are migrating from other platforms such as Boomplay which artists have called out for extremely low payments meanwhile Spotify pay over 3,500 United States dollars which is equivalent to 97,600 Zambian Kwacha per million streams (according to one-submit.com).

Among the 46 albums released in the year 2024, despite that showing how much work Zambian artists are putting in – only five managed to hit over a million Spotify streams. These albums include Jemax’s The Boogeyman, Dizmo’s Umuntu Mutwe, Yo Maps’ MY HERO, Chile One’s Boy From Chililand and Bobby East’s Rob•Art.

This represents a 10.9 per cent of albums released in 2024 that managed to get a million Spotify streams and over 89.1 that could not highlighting how difficult it is for a Zambian artist to achieve the milestone. It’s important to mention that these numbers have increased significantly as previous only a select few could achieve this milestone, an indication that Zambian music listeners are now using the platform and artists have improved their quality of music and marketing strategies.

Most Zambian music lovers might be wondering which album released last year tops them all, well after an extensive research these were the top 5 most streamed Zambian albums on Spotify:

At No.5 is Bobby East’s Rob•Art with 1,073,323 Spotify streams. This is the rapper’s third solo studio album after Vanilla and B.East. The album, which is a mix of rap and Afrobeat has become one othe artists biggest release on the platform, despite the artist mostly being quite at times with no music releases this achievement is a testament to his influence and amazing rap style, and lyrics enjoyed his fans.

At No.4 is Chile One’s Boy From Chililand with 1,221,761 Spotify streams. After his breakthrough single Fweba Ku Chaume featuring Jemax in 2022, it was just a matter of time until he released an album and when he did, he achieved success only fellow artist Yo Maps has seen with their first solo studio album. The 22-track album has been commercially successful for a Zambian album with his album winning best album at the 2024 Kwacha Music Awards.

At No.3 Dizmo’s Umuntu Mutwe with 1,303,740 Spotify streams. The rapper signed to Apa Ili So Entertainment has seen immeasurable success after the release of his 2nd solo studio album setting his as the third most streamed Zambian artist on Spotify in 2024 which is amazing for rapper.

At No.2 is Jemax’s The Boogeyman with 2,083,698 Spotify streams. Hailing from Kabwe, Jemax set himself up with his skilful rap skill and lyrics to become a household name. When he put those on beats to come up with The Boogeyman success was eminent, setting him as the artist with the second most streamed album in Zambia in 2024. His album won several accolades at the 2024 Kwacha Music Awards, one of them being best mainstream song for his hit record Mpawi featuring Jae Cash & Kayz Adams.

Finally at No.1 is Yo Maps’ MY HERO with 2,745,582 Spotify streams. With previous two successful albums Komando and Try Again, the artist’s success at whatever he touches is unbelievable thus his surprise announcement of releasing an album for his fans in 2024 was guaranteed to become the most successful Spotify released Zambian album that year. The album was released on 25th December, 2024 but barely a month since it’s release is top the list.

This data is as of February 3, 2025. There you have it, the top 5 most streamed albums in 2024. With the year projected to be busy, fans on Zambian music can only wait to see what this year will offer as 2024 was highly competitive and progressive for the Zambian music industry.

Do you feel maybe an album could have done better than others or some are overhyped, what would be your top 5? Share your thoughts.