‘Unavailable’, ‘Charm’, ‘City Boys’… top 10 songs of 2023

In 2023, the Nigerian music industry enjoyed monumental recognition and acceptance across the globe. From dominating global charts to performing on the world’s biggest stages, the country’s singers delivered unforgettable hits and Grammy-nominated songs that shaped the music space and extended Afrobeats’ global reputation.

As we say goodbye to 2023, TheCable Lifestyle presents the 10 favourite songs from a year that once again proved that Afrobeats is a genre to be reckoned with.

Below are the top 10 songs of 2023:

Davido – Unavailable (ft. Musa Keys)

‘Unavailable’ is one of the songs off ‘Timeless’, Davido’s 2023 album. The Afrobeats singer featured South Africa’s Musa Keys in the hit track.

It is the most-streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify in 2023. ‘Unavailable’ is also Rihanna, the award-winning Barbadian music star’s “favourite song of 2023“.

The song has raked in 82 million views on YouTube. And on Spotify, it has amassed over 111.8 million streams.

‘Unavailable’ was nominated in the Best African Performance category in the 2024 Grammy Awards. 

Rema – Charm

‘Charm’ is a song on Rave & Roses, Rema’s debut studio album. The song’s visuals became an instant hit, driving over 61 million views on YouTube and garnering more than 82 million streams on Spotify.

Burna Boy – City Boys

‘City Boys’ scored a nomination for ‘Best African Music Performance in the 2024 Grammy Awards.

Since the release of the track from ‘I Told Them’, Burna Boy’s 2023 album, on August 25, ‘City Boys’ has now been viewed 38 million times on YouTube and 86 million times on Spotify.

Spyro – Who Is Your Guy (ft. Tiwa Savage)

Spyro featured Tiwa Savage, the award-winning songstress, for the remix of ‘Who is your Guy?’ — a song that quickly became a hit among both young and old listeners. The song won the prize for best collaboration at the 2023 Headies Awards.

‘Who is your Guy?’ has been viewed over 111 million times on YouTube. It also has 71.4 million views on BoomPlay and boasts 14.9 million views on Spotify.

Asake – Lonely At The Top

Released in June, ‘Lonely At The Top‘ has been streamed 46 million times on Spotify; with the motion picture endearing to 31 million viewers on the same platform.

A track off ‘Work Of Art’, Asake’s second album, the song is the most shared on Boomplay while the body of work has 159. 9 million streams on the music application. 

Ayra Starr – Sability 

With its fast-paced beats and local-fitting lyrics, ‘Sability’ became an instant hit this year and has fetched 41 million in 10 months on YouTube, 33 million streams on Spotify, and an additional 25. 9 million on Boomplay.

Released on February 10, the song became a choice song in clubs, weddings, and birthday parties across the diverse cultures in the country.

Omah Lay –  Holy Ghost

Released on November 10, ‘Holy Ghost‘ has managed to garner 14 million on Spotify and 3.1 million on YouTube, while raking in 20.3 million streams on Boomplay

Odumodublvck – Blood On the Dance Floor (ft. Bloody Civilian, Wale)

Currently the biggest song off ‘Eziokwu’, the singer’s mixtape which was released on October 6, ‘Blood On the Dance Floor’ is a darling of Nigeria’s airwaves.

According to TurnTable, the song, which now sits at number 25 on official top radio songs, peaked in the first and second month of its release at number one. 

The single has gained 11.6 million streams on Spotify and 4.5 million in two months on YouTube.

Shallipopi – Elon Musk

‘Elon Musk’ is the Benin-born singer’s breakthrough song and it has laid a smooth path for other notoriously accepted songs like ‘Things on Things’ and ‘Oscroh (Pepperline). Debuted on March 14, the video to the original song has amassed 2.1 million views on YouTube while the feature with Zlatan and Fireboy, has 2.6 million views.

The Plutomaniac’s debut single has raked up over 6 million streams on Spotify and 5.3 million on BoomPlay.

Qing Madi – Ole (ft. BNXN)

The fast-rising R&B singer earned the platform she now enjoys with the success of ‘Ole’ — a BNXN-assisted song. The single dropped on July 21, 2023, and has garnered 8. 1 million views on YouTube. The song currently polls 10 million streams on Spotify and 3.7 million on BoomPlay.