2023 best female African artists expected to shine again in 2024

Music industry watchers and experts have picked four female African artists of 2023, based on their performances and the numbers they were able to make.

They are Ayra Starr, Tems, Tyla and Tiwa Savage. Here are some of the reasons why:

Ayra Starr

Ayra Starr has practically rushed her way into the top echelon of African music and stamped her feet on the global stage. With her “Away and “Rush” bangers, she has overturned practically everything in her path. She has taken the music world by storm since her 2021 debut, making her one of the top Afrobeats artists in the world. Spotify data shows that she is in the top ten most streamed Afrobeats artists of all time.

Since 2021 when she announced her arrival her stock has kept rising that her songs have been massively streamed in countries like the United States of America, France, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Sweden, South Africa and Kenya.

After her debut single “Away” shot her to stardom, her hit single “Rush” has surpassed 100 million streams on both Spotify and YouTube.

In 2023, she hasn’t taken her foot off the throttle as she commands her space with songs like No love, Sability, stamina, Great one and more, not forgetting her tag-team single with labelmate DJ Big N and singer Oxlade called “How Many Times.”

She is expected to carry the streak into the next year and beyond. Being nominated for a Grammy was one of the biggest things that happened to her in 2023.

Tems

Temilade Openiyi, known professionally as Tems, rose to prominence after being featured on Wizkid’s 2020 single “Essence”, which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the release of the remix version with Justin Bieber. The song earned her a Grammy Award nomination. That same year, she was featured on the song “Fountains” by Drake.

On February 5, 2023, Tems won a Best Melodic Rap Performance Grammy for her collaboration on “Wait For U” with Future and Drake. That same month, she won the Female MVP award at the Soundcity MVP Awards held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos.

She had a wonderful 2023 and expected to have even a more fulfilling 2024.

Tyla

Tyla Laura Seethal (born 30 January 2002), known mononymously as Tyla, is a South African singer. Born and raised in Johannesburg, she signed to Epic Records in 2021 after the domestic success of her debut single “Getting Late” featuring Kooldrink.

She rose to international fame with her 2023 single “Water”, which was a top ten hit in a dozen countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. It was also the first song by a South African soloist to enter the US Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years. Her self-titled debut album is scheduled for release on March 1, 2024, so it appears 2024 is already on the up and up for the young diva. She has been nominated for a Grammy Award, a Soul Train Music Award, and two South African Music Awards.

Tiwa Savage

As far as African music goes, the queen of Afrobeats cannot go “Missing in action”. Tems and Ayra Starr may be getting in the line of her sunshine, she is still unquestionably, the queen who calls the shot.

It is almost impossible to catalog her discography as she has continued to show up since she broke to prominence with “Kele Kele love” in 2013. 2023 has been nice to her too, like all previous years as she rocked the scene with Pick up, Gbese, Stamina and more.