Spotify has announced the arrival of South Africa’s Wrapped 2022, the platform’s deep dive into the music that defined the year for users locally.

“South Africans can be proud of what their creatives in music are achieving. They are making noise in the right places, and at the right time,” says Warren Bokwe, Spotify’s Artist and Label Partnerships Manager in South Africa.

This year, Amapiano became South Africa’s hottest genre and this year’s roundup shows that South Africans truly believe local is lekker.

Here are some of the results:

• The top most streamed South African artists locally in 2022 are Amapiano artists.
• Kabza De Small appeared in five out of seven top music streaming lists in South Africa this year, leading the charge as the most streamed South African artist and proving that the genre known for birthing creative dance challenges, is unstoppable.
• Kabza De Small is not only the most streamed South African artist, but he is also one of only two South African artists to feature in the top ten most streamed artists overall in South Africa, ranking second to Drake, and ahead of The Weeknd, who claims the number three spot.
• KOA II Part 1 by Kabza De Small tops the charts for the most streamed South African album in South Africa in 2022.
• DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small’s main collaborator, is the second most streamed artist. The two are also well known for their Scorpion Kings projects.
• AmaPiano Grooves, a playlist made up of some of the country’s hottest Amapiano tracks is the most streamed playlist in South Africa this year.
• K.O.’s genre-bending track SETE, released in August, claims the title of the most streamed song in Mzansi while Paris, by Q-Mark claims the number two spot, followed by Glass Animals’ Heat Waves, and Wanitwa Mos’ Dali Nguwe and Lost Frequencies’ Where Are You Now rounding out the top five.
• Dali Nguwe by Wanitwa Mos is the number one South African song streamed globally, followed by uMlando by 9umba, Lady Du, Mdoovar, Sino Msolo, Sir Trill, Slade, TOSS, Young Stunna at number two with Paris (feat. Afriikan Papi), Cloud9ne, Q-Mark, TpZee rounding the top three.
• The most streamed South African artist globally list is dominated by Amapiano artists, led by Kabza De Small followed by DJ Maphorisa, Young Stunna,  Mellow & Sleazy, Blxckie,  Nasty C, Makhadzi,  Ami Faku with Joyous Celebration rounding up the list.
• South Africans repeatedly streamed SETE, it is the number one most repeated song in South Africa.
• South Africans love to get the party started as soon as the work week is over with many streaming the most music on Fridays and kicking the party off promptly at 17:00 (the top time of day that they like to listen to music on Spotify) 
• Local music consumption in South Africa has grown exponentially, increasing by 85% between 2021 and 2022

The full breakdown of South Africans streamed on Spotify this year is below.

Amapiano surpassed a billion global streams as predicted in May this year with the launch of Spotify: Music That Moves – a series focusing on locally grown music and showcases the cross-border and cross-cultural appeal of the genre in far-flung locations beyond South Africa. The genre and its artists are growing globally and locally as evidenced by this year’s Wrapped data.