Nigerian Star Burna Boy Is Reaching New Streaming Heights in the U.S.

 

One of the defining musical trends of the last decade has been the growing influence of international artists in the U.S. Cross-continental collaborations are now routine, and American major-labels are increasingly open to signing artists with buzz abroad. Even U.S. radio, which is notoriously resistant to change, has made room for tuneful reggaeton from Colombia, impeccably choreographed pop from South Korea, and club-friendly cuts from Nigeria.

The 29-year-old Burna Boy, a versatile, urgent singer with a high-octane live show, is the latest act from Nigeria to grab the attention of U.S. listeners: He made his highest-ever appearance on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Artists chart this week, landing at Number 128 following the release of Twice as Tall, his fifth album, which is executive produced by the rapper-producer P. Diddy.

The Rolling Stone Artists 500 chart ranks the most-streamed artists of the week in the United States, taking into account audio streams across an artist’s entire catalog during the tracking period. Burna Boy pulled in a total of 14.8 million streams between August 14th and August 20th in the U.S.