CKay, a Nigerian singer, is the next artist to be featured on Billboard’s “Chartbreaker” series, which highlights an artist making their debut on the charts.
CKay is the Chartbreaker for November 2021, although it was his song “Love Nwantiti” from 2019 that earned him his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, owing to a popular TikTok challenge and countless remixes.
The song reached No. 2 on Billboard‘s Global Excl. U.S. and Global 200 lists, as well as the top 40 on The Hot 100 chart. Shazam’s Global 200 chart also gave it the top place.
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“Social media definitely played a role – and it wasn’t only TikTok. It was also Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The world discovered it one person at a time,” CKay says.
Inspiration behind the Song
In the Billboard interview, CKay says he was in love while making “Love Nwantiti” and the inspiration came to him while he was making beats and freestyling in his living room.
He describes his own kind of Afrobeats as Emo Afrobeats. It is “my own spin on Afrobeats,” he says adding that he finds particular joy in creating it.
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“Emo Afrobeats is a way to express myself, my emotions and my sound and still have a groove to it,” he explains. “Plus I’m a cancer, so my energy is basically emotions.
Debut Album
“My album is going to be my best work yet… because I’m going to put my whole soul and essence into it,” CKay tells Billboard.