Grammy-winning superstar Tyla has cemented her position as South Africa’s queen of contemporary R&B after emerging as the country’s most-streamed local R&B artist on Spotify in 2025.
New Spotify data shows South Africans spent more than 8.5 billion minutes streaming R&B during 2025, the equivalent of more than 142 million hours, underscoring the genre’s growing popularity, particularly among younger listeners.
Tyla tops the streaming platform’s list of the most-streamed South African R&B artists this year, ahead of Sondae, Lloyiso, Elaine, and Jordan G Welch.
Her dominance extends beyond South Africa as she also leads the continent’s most-streamed R&B artists, followed by Tems, Ayra Starr, Omah Lay, and Fireboy DML. Tracks such as “Venus,” “Baby (Is It A Crime),” “Arike,” “Lost,” and “Gimme Dat” ranked among the continent’s biggest R&B songs.
The data also reveals that the genre is being driven by younger audiences. Nearly 41% of South African R&B listeners are aged 18 to 24, while almost 19% fall within the 25 to 29 age group, reflecting the continued appeal of both classic and contemporary R&B.
