Ckay becomes top emerging act in US with ‘Love Nwantiti’

Ckay, the fast-rising Nigerian singer, has become the top emerging act in the United States for the first time after ‘Love Nwantiti’, his 2019 single, hit number one on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart.

According to Billboard, with 10.6 million radio audience impressions, 10.4 million US streams, and 2,200 downloads, ‘Love Nwantiti’ ranks at No. 33, after reaching No. 31, on its Hot 100.

‘Love Nwantiti’ concurrently sits at No. 4 on the Billboard’s Global Excl US chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Global 200, after reaching No. 2 on both lists.

The Emerging Artists chart, according to Billboard, “ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Social 50.

“(The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.”

Bizzle Osikoya, the Nigerian music executive, had recently disclosed that ‘Love Nwantiti’ “is the first Nigerian song to be certified platinum in France.”

CKay had also confirmed to have pulled off similar feats for the single in the UK, Italy, and Canada.

The ‘Felony’ crooner had recalled how Chocolate City initially overlooked ‘Love Nwantiti’ when he sent the single to the music label.

In 2019, the musician had dropped the project as a track off ‘CKay the First’, his debut extended play (EP).

There have been different versions of the song since the original track was released.